


Karkat's Journey

by KarkatVantabulous



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alien Gender/Sexuality, Burning, Cult of the Signless Sufferer, Death of the Signless, Depression, Dream Bubbles, Hemospectrum, Implied/Referenced Sex, Karkat becomes the signless 2.0, M/M, Mentions of Solkat, Minor Sollux Captor/Karkat Vantas, New World, Pale Romance | Moirallegiance, Pesterlog, Public Execution, Sober Gamzee Makara, Torture, a little bit of nepfef and arafef, hemoequality, little bit of nepfef, mention of quadrant confusion, mentions of sexuality questioning, mentions of sollux captor/karkat vantas, sassy psii
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-16
Updated: 2015-12-19
Packaged: 2018-05-01 20:53:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 25,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5220446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KarkatVantabulous/pseuds/KarkatVantabulous
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I do not begrudge you your power, just know that its abuse will bring your downfall."</p>
<p>Karkat finally fully embraces his rightful duty to bring peace to his race, but even with the help of all his friends will he really end this successfully? Or will he end in failure like his ancestor?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Meeting the Signless

**Author's Note:**

> This is a continuation of the Karkat's Lessons story! So many people asked for a sequel so here you all go! Please go read my other story, Karkat's Lessons, To fully understand this story seeing as this is a continuation. Happy reading!!

_"Sooo...you're like the next troll Jesus?" Dave asked, an eyebrow raising. Karkat rolled his eyes, not responding. The others just sat there quietly, unable to process this new information. The Cancer troll just explained his supposed "destiny" of setting his race free from the evils of blood hierarchy. Vriska wasn't sure how to take all this. She had briefly read about The Signless in Mindfang's journal, but she never actually expected... **this** to happen._

_"Well...I believe that Karkat will make an excellent Savior. He has already proven himself to be quite the leader in our session. I'm sure you will succeed and free our race whenever the time may come for you to do so." Kanaya said, folding her hands in her lap and smiling warmly. Rose and Terezi nodded._

_"From what Kanaya has told me, you happen to be a very skilled leader." Rose started, linking her arm with Kanaya's and leaning against her slightly. "Mostly in keeping your fellow friends all in line and from what i've gathered you acted as a sort of "public moirail" towards some of them. Discussing their feelings and mainly pacifying their rampages. I'm certain whatever duties you must fulfill due to a predetermined faith that has been placed upon you will end in triumph."_

_"Yeah!" Terezi exclaimed, a grin on her face. "You'll be great! And you'll have all of us on your side this time, so hopefully you won't end up like your ancestor."_

_"Yes, and it just so happens that a total of four to nine gods will be on your side. Also the experience you have gathered throughout these past few years. You are guaranteed total success." The little mixture of trolls and humans spoke excitedly, mainly the trolls spoke in excitement. All except Vriska...she was keeping to herself. Staying unnaturally quiet and eyeing Karkat..._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A smile threatened to play on Karkat's lips as he remembered that day. The day he had announced to his friends of his destiny. That day he felt closer to them all for some reason, he felt like for once they all bonded over the same thing: freedom.

Karkat continued walking as Kanaya spoke, only half listening to what she explained. The two of them had just come back from meeting with Echidna and Kanaya was spouting some sort of bullshit about needing to protect him as a part of her end of the bargain. Karkat had no clue what that meant. Before he could get any further details from the vague rainbow drinker, she had already bonked him on the head rather forcefully and left him unconscious on the ground. Damn that rainbow drinker strength.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Wake up, young savior." God, who was that? Karkat didn't know, and he didn't care. All he wanted to do was lay here and wallow in his own pain. His head hurt, it hurt so badly. Kanaya probably left a bruise, he'd have to chew her out about it later. "If you don't want to get up..." That voice, it was so _familiar_...yet different. "Then I guess i'll have to carry you." What? Karkat's body was lifted off the ground and he panicked. His eyes fluttered open and he looked around, limbs flailing.

A voice behind him laughed loudly and he was held out even more. Karkat looked down, though he wished he hadn't. Karkat was a good six feet off the ground. He whimpered and curled up, not wanting to fall.

"Signless!" That voice...there was a lisp. Sollux? No. No it couldn't be Sollux. This voice was far too deep to be Sollux's voice. Wait, did he just say _Signless?_ "Come! He is much like you and your unreasonable fear of heights!"

"I fear nothing, but fear itself." Said another voice, it was gruff yet soothing at the same time. Like Karkat's voice but it had the same volume level as Kankri's. It was an odd mix of the two.

"Will you stop that philosophical bullshit for _one_ minute and come bask in the glory that is the supposed new savior. Look at him! He's very short, and he's wearing _sweatpants._ Are you sure this is the right descendent?" Okay, that's it. No one was going to bash on his pants. No one except Kanaya of course.

"Fuck you, you lispy voiced douchebag! There's _nothing_ wrong with sweatpants!" Karkat snapped, trying to crane his neck to get a look at whoever was speaking. His little comment earned himself a polite chuckle and a hearty laugh.

"Psii, Please don't banter with my descendent. You know as well as I do that this is he, and his fashion choices are none of our concerns. Although if mother were to get a look at you...but anyway, I would greatly appreciate it if you set him down." There was a sigh and Karkat was finally set down. The cancer troll smoothed out his turtleneck before spinning around and staring at the two trolls behind him. His mouth fell open and his eyes widened. He couldn't believe it.

The Signless and The Psionic were standing in front of him.

"Salutations, Karkat." His Ancestor as he lowered his hood. He was tall, at least six feet. This held some hopes for Karkat's five foot frame. His face showed kindness and understanding, along with a goatee Karkat didn't agree with. The cancer troll looked over at the Psionic. He was taller than the Signless, but half a foot at most. He had Sollux's general expression plastered on his face, that bored and snarky type of expression.

"Right, Hey. Hi. Hello. Hey. Uh..." Karkat didn't know what to do or say. What is there to say when you met your ancestor who died a good what...two thousand sweeps ago? Karkat didn't know, no troll exactly wrote a manual on that sort of situation.

"As you already know, I am The Sufferer. Or more commonly known as The Signless. This," The Signless gestured at the yellow blood beside him. "Is my moirail, The Helmsman, or more commonly known as The Psiioniic. The rest of my brethren could not attend our little meet and greet because I thought it best we kept things just between the three of us. Although I will be doing a vast majority of the speaking." The Psionic nodded and crossed his arms. Karkat felt like they had planned this all ahead of time...

"First off. I'm sure you know my story and I'm sure you now know your true...er...calling I should say." Karkat nodded. "Good. I'm sure you know how much of great help my moirail has been to aiding in keeping you safe, correct?" Karkat shook his head.

"Well, we have next to no time for the whole ten page essay story-type musclebeast crap, so i'll keep it short and simple." The yellow blood started as he shuffled his feet. "I was Her Imperious Condescension Helmsman. Helmsman One Alpha Helmsman to be exact. I had access to Her empire's mainframe, which means I had the access to files of _all_ her citizens in _all_ her empire. Yours included. I would take a little peek at your file and check the scheduled date for your culling. If it was at a near date I would simply re-route the drones to play in your favour. If it was at a faraway date I would change the date to a later time. _You're welcome._ "

"Yes, well, he did that. In a way he extended your life, kind of how--"

"Sign, as much as I LOVE the friendly banter between you and I and as much as I LOVE hearing shitty jokes about the past what...two? three thousand sweeps, we're on a tight schedule." The Signless sighed and nodded, seeming genuinely upset that he couldn't finish his sentence.

"Right. Well your life has been saved many times in the past because of him. On to more pressing matters. You, my dear descendent, are on the path to becoming the supposed "New Savior" to the, from what I understand, upcoming race of trolls I don't mean to apply any sort of pressure to you but this is a very important task. The lives of millions of trolls depend on you and your success. And I have a small word of advice for your journey for peace."

"Do not attempt to compare yourself to me. Just because we are of the same blood and because you are "finishing what I have started" does _not_ mean you have to follow my footsteps exactly. Yes, I would greatly appreciate it if your conquest for peace would actually _include_ peace but to every their own I suppose. Just know that you have many attributes of your own, like the ability to pacify raging highbloods or the amazing leadership skills I have observed you perform. You are your own person. You have the power within yourself to finally bring us all peace."

"Let the age-old burning rage and white hot hatred that lurks within you guide you to the peace that finally relieve us all. Allow the truths behind the teachings that have been passed down to you serve as a sort of model for the new generation's views." Karkat couldn't really say anything. He just stood there in awe and nodded, memorising everything his ancestor had to say. He never wanted to forget this.

The edges of the dream bubble began to ripple and Karkat's thinkpan felt fuzzy. He was waking up and rather abruptly apparently. He looked back at the Signless who merely smiled at his descendent.

"So long, kid." The Psionic did a little two-finger salute at Karkat. "Bring us peace and bring down that fishy son of a bitch." Karkat grinned. The Psiioniic and Sollux were very much alike and it made Karkat glad that their ancestors had each other. Even a good two thousand sweeps later they still seemed sickeningly pale for one another.

"Farewell, Karkat. I believe in you and may the faith of Alternia aid you on your journey." The Signless waved and the dream bubble rippled before Karkat woke up.


	2. Confronting the Condescension

Karkat woke up on the meteor. Wait...didn't Kanaya knock him out in a cave? This didn't make sense.

The Cancer troll sat up and rubbed the back of his head. The pain receded to a dull pounding instead of painful throbbing, so that was good. He looked around the empty area around himself and sighed. He really was alone at the moment. Karkat considered going down to visit Gamzee but he remembered that Jake and Tavrosprite had taken the fridge.

Karkat was alone.

The Knight of Blood stood up and stretched, his joints popping multiple times. Might as well get down to business. But _what_ business? He didn't exactly know what to do now. Everyone else was in battle and he was supposed to...what was he supposed to even do? Karkat didn't know. God, he was so _stupid._

The cancer troll sighed in frustration and paced, trying to think of his next move. Should he go and try to fight alongside his friends? Fall right back asleep and try to converse with the Signless once more but that would probably seem stupid. Karkat didn't want to look stupid in front of his ancestor. What could Karkat do? He sighed and just sat back down, feeling utterly useless. Might as well catch up on his reading.

The book Kankri had given him fell onto Karkat's lap and he opened it once again. Karkat had next to memorised the pages and the pictures, but it was still nice to read it. He flipped to the page with The Architect, the Beforian version of Sollux and his Beforian self's matesprit. His eyes roamed the yellow blood's frame in his loose fitting yellow and black garb. His red and blue visor that doubled as sort of headband and the papers clutched tightly to his chest. He turned the page and there was Her Imperial Radiance, Feferi's Beforian self.

This Empress was beautiful. Her long silky hair was pulled into two tight braids that hung off her shoulders. Her earfins were adorned with earrings of gold and fuschia, her arms covered in bracelets, her neck showed off a variety of blue and green necklaces, even her horns had jewels clasped around them. Her dress was long and flowing, mainly white but it was blue and green on her sides. Her double culling trident wasn't anywhere in the photograph, no, instead her arms were wide open as if asking for a hug from an old friend. She looked genuinely warm and inviting. She looked peaceful.

Seeing this photograph made Karkat think of Feferi. And when he thought of Feferi he remembered her death. He remembered how he just stood there as Sollux got knocked out. How he just stood there as Feferi lunged to avenge her yellow blooded moirail but was soon killed. He remembered and regretted not helping. But she was in a better place now, every Feferi he had encountered was extremely happy in the bubble's and held no ill will towards Karkat. It made him wonder how someone as sweet and forgiving as Feferi had managed to get someone so horrible and evil as The Condesce.

The Condesce...

The fenestrated panel on the floor lit up and a soft, rosey light was emitted from it. Karkat put the book back in its rightful place in his sylladex and stood up. He walked over to the panel and examined it. It shouldn't have of turned on...or... it should've? Karkat didn't really know how these things worked in all honesty. He didn't know what to do now. Did he have to go through it? Is that it? Might as well, not like he had anything better to do.

Karkat sighed and took a couple steps back. Yeah, might as well jump right into a mysterious glowing panel that leads you to probably no where. This is exactly what crabdad taught Karkat to do.

The cancer troll sighed once more before breaking out into a run and jumping right into the panel, disappearing from the meteor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He landed on his feet with a groan. A pang of pain shot up his legs and he hissed in pain. Where was he? Where had that panel taken him? It only took him a quick glance upward to know where he was. The giant mass of gleaming purple. Purple buildings, floors, streets. It was just so... _purple._

Karkat was on Derse.

How did he manage to sneak his way onto Derse? He didn't know. Why had the panel taken him to Derse? He didn't know. Would he be able to get off of Derse? He didn't know. Wait...weren't John, Rose, and Roxy on Derse currently fighting...

There was a loud crackling sound, like electricity and red and blue reflected off the shiny purple buildings in front of him. Oh no. This was bad. Karkat was probably going to die. But the near guarantee of death didn't stop him from turning around and peering over the edge of the building he was on now.

His suspicions were correct. Underneath him in the streets of Derse, The Condescension was beaming her stolen Psionics at the three godtiered humans. The three humans narrowly avoided getting vaporized by the red and blue beams of electricity. Seeing this unfold, seeing her use stolen telekinesis, it made Karkat angry. Not the _"hulk smash"_ kind of angry, but the kind of angry that made him do stupid shit. Like the thing he was about to do.

He hopped down the roof and onto the balcony that was a floor underneath him, he repeated that until he reached the final balcony. Good thing he was taken to a building with easy access to the bottom. It was as if the universe gave him one little helping hand. Karkat considered taking his sickles out but he quickly shook that thought away. He wasn't here to fight here, hell, she could probably kill him in a second. No, he was here to talk. Just talk.

_"Hey!"_ Karkat called out as he hopped down from the balcony that separated him and the ground. God, this was a horrible idea. The worst idea in the _history_ of ideas. But it was too late to take anything back now. The Empress had her attention turned to cancer troll currently stomping its way towards her. At least she turned off the psionics.

His blood pumper was beating at double time. He could get killed right now. The Empress could just use the stolen mind control to make him belly flop off a building into a fiery pit of death or use those psionics to vaporize him or she could use that animal control and call upon any vicious beast to maul him to death right now. Or even worse, she could just throw her little double sided culling trident at him and impale him right now. The possibilities of his death were endless, but he had a task to do and he couldn't get distracted.

The task? To talk, of course. The problem was, he had no clue what he was going to say, or why he was doing this. Oh well. Karkat stomped close enough to the Empress where he could see the little holes in her earfins and the confusion on her face. Seeing her this close only made his anger bubble up even more. He wanted to curse, to scream in her face. To call her fish scum and curse the day she was ever hatched. But as much as he wanted to, he couldn't.

When he opened his mouth a string of foul curse words in English didn't spill out. His usual ranting face which included the spray of spit and twitch of the eye wasn't present. No, this time Karkat composed himself. His posture wasn't tense, he stood tall, proud, and confident. His voice didn't break, it came out smooth and calm with just a hint of anger. Just a hint. But the most interesting thing about all this was the language. Karkat didn't speak in English. He spoke in Alternian.

His words came out strong and powerful. His voice showed age-old wisdom. He sounded like he _knew_ what he was saying. He sounded like the _Signless._

_"I'm not here for any sort of useless violence. I'm here to talk. I'm here for a warning you may say. I'm here to tell you that you're hopeless act all those sweeps ago by killing off a rebellion in hopes of it dying down and your power remaining unchallenged is going challenged. He promised another mutant that would bring your downfall, and here I am. The best part is you knew this was coming, yet you did nothing. You counted on that shitty game to take me down and here I am. I'm here to warn you that I have arisen, and I'm going to bring down your shitty blood based hierarchy. And I'm here to say that I won't go down without a fight. Your iron grip on this silly little fantasy of a blood based society will disappear. I don't begrudge you your power, but know its abuse will be your downfall."_

Karkat finished his little rant and a small smirk played on his lips. Though the three humans stood there in confusion, having no idea how Karkat got here, how he was still alive or what he just said but that didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was that The Condesce understood. The fuschia blooded sea dweller stood there in awe. She couldn't react. She didn't know how to react.

The Condesce was an all powerful Empress. She had the citizens in her Empire tremble and kiss the ground she walked on or bathed in the water she swam in. Her enemies immediately threw themselves at her feet and kissed her shoes, begging for mercy. She was merciless, she was powerful, she feared nothing.

Except one thing.

She remembered the day the news was brought to her that the pesky little mutant to challenged her authority was dead. His body was being burned and the ashes would be spread across her favourite ocean. All was fine. Except one thing. Her servant informed her of the Signless' message, his final sermon. The mutant promised all trolls of a new savior. He promised of another who would finish what he couldn't start. He promised the Empress that she would be taken down. And she remembered how he capped off that Final Sermon of his: _"I do not begrudge you your power, but know its abuse will be your downfall."_

Now, here was the mutant offspring she was promised. And now this mutant was promising her the ending of the age old war for the supposed "peace" of the universe. Here was the one thing the Empress feared, the one thing she was promised. Here he was preaching of the hemoequality ways that were passed down to him. Here he was, unknowingly quoting his ancestor.

And in that moment, The Condescension knew she was in trouble.


	3. The Beginning of the End

The battle came and went, the humans and trolls won. The deceased trolls; Tavros, Nepeta, Equius, Eridan, and Feferi, came back to life. Sollux even regained his sight and psionics. Lord English and Lord Jack were both annihilated, Bec Noir was destroyed thanks to a final blow caused by Jade, and The Condesce was taken care of. No, she didn't die. She was weakened though. The powers she had stolen from innocent trolls were ripped away from her and she was weak, she had nothing. So the Empress ran away. The cowardly sea dweller was in hiding, waiting. The group wasn't worried though, they would be ready to bring her reign of terror to an end.

The groups all returned to the meteor top once more and had a nice little reunion in the common room. It took some verbal fighting, but after a few good verbal punches to the gut Karkat convinced his friends to free Gamzee from that wretched refrigerator. After some heartfelt mingling with the recently revived Karkat felt the need to retell the story of his realising his true destiny. He re-gathered his friends and told them everything. He told them about his "lessons" with his Dancestor and his predetermined fate of "bringing peace to them all." And all the basic "you're the next messiah" kind of business.

Eridan was dumbfounded, he believed that all that Signless mumbo-jumbo wasn't anything too big. Then again he believed that when he was thirteen and had a strict hemospectrum and genocidal mindset. Feferi was all about the idea of hemoequality whilst Sollux was too but he didn't really have more to offer than a "cool." to the conversation. Equius on the other hand was the most supportive of this idea, baffling the others. He explained that since he died and became a sprite he had a lot of time to think. In the time he spent thinking he realised that the hemospectrum was nothing more than a silly little set of rules so highbloods could act all high and mighty.

This was amazing. Karkat felt even closer to his friends now. He felt like for once they didn't see him as just the mutant who screamed at everyone. As the troll who acted like he didn't give a shit but really put the needs of everyone else before himself. Yes, he was all of these things but now he felt like in this moment, they took his leadership skills seriously. It was a good feeling and it brought a smile to the cancer trolls face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Come on, assholes. We've waited _three years_ for this I'm sure for safety reasons we can wait FIVE minutes." Karkat yelled out over the clamour of trolls and humans excitedly pushing their way to try to be the first through the gate into the new world. Everyone was excited, obviously, a whole new world. A whole new generation of humans and trolls. It was exciting yet dangerous at the same time.

After a good twenty minutes of Karkat yelling over the excited crowd and fighting them to stay in line, Karkat managed to get his friends to pair up so they could all safely float up to the gate. Everyone had to be safe, everyone had to get in quickly and safely. Karkat wasn't about to lose any one of his friends.

Ten minutes and a lot of debate over who carried Gamzee later and the mixture of humans and trolls were all dropping to the ground with thuds and groans.

Karkat was the first to stand up. He slowly pulled himself up to his feet and opened his eyes. The bright sun blinded him for a moment and he shielded his eyes. The others weren't as fortune either, they all covered their eyes and and looked away at the dirt ground underneath them. The cancer troll's eyes adjusted and he looked around.

_Oh no._

This wasn't right at all. This place...it looked inhabited. It wasn't covered in water. It had trolls and humans on it. Living breathing trolls and humans. This world looked somewhat modernised yet still like an old 16th century English village. This wasn't right.

"What the..." Karkat mumbled as he glanced around. _Oh no._ Around them were statues and armbands decorating trolls and humans. It was engraved on buildings and rocks and the area around them surrounded them. What was it? It was her. _The Empress._ Statues made of gold, pisces symbols engraved everywhere. The most disturbing was the giant red ship that was parked midair what looked to be a few miles away. Karkat shook his head and it felt like the nonexistent walls were closing in on him.

"We were supposed to have more time..." Karkat mumbled as he wrapped his arms around himself. He looked up to stare at the giant statue of the fishy empress sitting there, staring down at him. " _How_ did you get here?!" He screamed out at the statue though he knew he wouldn't get an answer. The group behind him were baffled as well, how _did_ she get here so quick? The only other way for her to get here was to harness the power of a psionic and travel millions of lightyears with her ship but...she had no power left. Or so they thought.

"Karkat please calm down..." Kanaya said as she helped Rose up off the ground. This was disturbing. This was unsettling. This was horrifying. The Empress had already beat them to this new world. Their safe haven. Their utopia.

_They couldn't run from her when she was already there._


	4. The Beginning of the Journey

"Karkat...what do we do now?" Who said that? Karkat didn't know. The voice was washed out by the blood loudly pounding throughout his body. He stared up at the statue of the Empress and she stared right back. He wanted to get out of there. He spun around and faced the group staring at him. The trolls and the humans, both fresh faces and old friends, were staring back at him.

He wanted them to stop looking at him. He wanted them to stop their staring, stop their wondering. Karkat didn't know what to do. He wasn't prepared for this. He was prepared for a planet drowned in water and a fresh start. Not a planet already inhabited and controlled by the one bitch that was already controlling every aspect of their lives before they played that god awful game.

Karkat didn't know what to do. They all just stood there, waiting for direction from their stubby horned leader. Karkat's eyes darted between the humans and the trolls, his heart was pounding and he was panting. Why was he panting? He hadn't done anything really. What was he going to do? He didn't know, his thinkpan was off. He couldn't think right so he did the only thing he knew to do in situations like this: he ran.

He pushed past his friends and broke out into a sprint. Some shouts of his name echoed behind him but he didn't care. He ran. Adrenaline coursed throughout his body and helped him his chubby like body push itself more. He hasn't ran this fast since he fought the Black King with his friends three years ago. That was so long ago, back when Karkat at least had _some_ idea of what he was doing.

His mind was elsewhere, he was distracted from where he was going. Only did the loud and distressed honk from his clown friend brought him back to reality long enough to realise that there was a drone in front of him. A fucking drone. His mind finally registered that it was making some sort of noise...was it charging something up? Oh no, it was. It arm raised slightly and Karkat barely dove out of the way before the drone shot a beam of what looked to be silver and blue. Karkat pulled himself up to his feet and heard the drone charging up again. This was bad, _really_ bad.

"Karkat! Duck!" Well whatever. Might as well. He dropped to the ground, covered his head and closed his eyes. He heard another beam being shot that matched the one from the drone perfectly. The drone fell to the ground with a loud thud and Karkat hesitantly opened his eyes. The drone had a gaping hole in its chest and the cancer troll was relieved that that was one problem he didn't have to deal with.

He turned around, his heart still pounding in his chest so hard Karkat believed it would jump right out. Eridan was kneeling there, his gun resting on his shoulder and finger on the trigger. The sea dweller sighed in relief upon seeing the drone "dead" and Karkat okay. The rest of the group jogged/flew over to the out of breath cancer troll and all at once they began shouting at him.

It wasn't angry yelling, it was more worried. Karkat was practically running into the arms of death when he was supposed to lead them all to this alleged peace. Karkat understood their worry but right now he was more worried about their current situation. She was here. She ruled here. He was powerless. She probably already brainwashed them all into thinking that mutants were bad and the blood based caste system was good. Gamzee must've seen the worry on his face because he stepped away from the group and rested a giant hand on his friend's shoulder. Karkat looked up at Gamzee and nodded, seeming to understand the words unsaid. Gamzee pulled Karkat underneath his arm and half glared at the others.

"Listen up, motherfuckers." Gamzee growled out. His voice was deep and scary sounding. His friends stopped their upset chattering and looked up at the clown. They still didn't trust Gamzee but since Karkat seemed at ease with him, they relaxed slightly. "Karbro ain't up for this shit right now. He ain't be needing none a ya assholes screamin' at him 'bout nothin'. He just got this weird messiah gig a little while ago, ya think he got all the answers for the questions ya thrownin' at him? Give a brother some time." Gamzee finished his little rant and let his arm slid off of his friend. The group obliged to Gamzee's request and ceased their arguing. Karkat sighed in relief.

"Right...well as this fucker said I need time for this shit. Did you honestly expect me to jump in here and become this fucking preacher on the spot? No, this shit takes time. For now I suggest we all just...find shelter before another goddamn drone sees us. Stupid fucking drones..." Karkat shuddered and the others nodded.

They all walked in a big group, it was pretty odd. How does one even react to a group of humans all dressed up in weird garments and trolls of a rainbow of blood all walking together, laughing and having a grand old time. The group encountered trolls and humans alike but whenever one of the strangers dared to challenge the group Gamzee would put on his murder clown act and scare the intruders away. Thank god he was actually in control of that shit.

Though Karkat was the "leader" of the group he didn't walk in the front. No, Karkat walked behind all his friends. He kept his head down and hands shoved in his pockets. His mind was wandering. How was he going to do any of this? The Condesce had already managed to take over the "new world" and brainwashed all these innocent people. Karkat had no leverage, all he had was the faith and loyalty of his friends. That was a good thing though, at least he knew he could trust them.

"So..." Dave's voice cut through his train of thought. His head shot up and he raised an eyebrow. Wasn't Dave up front talking with John and Jade? "Troll Jesus...what's our next move?" _Troll Jesus._ Karkat rolled his eyes at the nickname.

"First of all Dave, I'm not any kind of Jesus. And second of all, I have no fucking clue honestly. I expected to arrive on a planet covered in water that was barren. Instead I get an inhabited planet that's ruled by the one bitch I'm trying to bring down." Karkat sighed in frustration and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well...you know we'll bring her down. From what you told us when you went all Signless on her ass she's scared dude. Fish hitler is scared of itty bitty Troll Jesus. And you're kind of like Jesus...In a way. There's basically two of you. The first dude, your ancestor, died but then you came and you're here to...relieve your race from the...whatever. It's _kind of_ like Jesus."

"Dave, the thing the the Signless had was more of a cult than anything. His preachings a were kept hushed and they had to make preparations for my birth. It's...just weird. But I guess I can kind of see why you'd think it's like the religious thing."

"Thank you for agreeing with me."

"I wasn't agreeing with you."

"Screw you for not agreeing with me." The two walked in somewhat silence, the chittering of the ones ahead of them didn't make it completely silent but it was quiet enough to where it felt awkward between the two. Thankfully Dave broke the silence. "You know what I find funny? You have basically everything the Signless had. You have a Dolorosa." He gestured at Kanaya who was walking at the head of the group, holding hands with Rose. "You have a Psionic. Or what would be the Psionic to you." He pointed at Gamzee who was talking with Tavros, though Tavros seemed tense.

"Yeah, but i don't have a Disciple." Karkat stated flatly. Dave raised an eyebrow.

"Disciple? She was the cat lady troll right? She was the dude's matesprit or whatever, right?" Karkat nodded. The Knight of Time smirked and tugged Karkat's hand out of his pocket, slid his own hand with Karkat's, then intertwined their fingers. "Really? I could've _sworn_ you had one of those."


	5. The First Sermon

Those in the group who godtiered had been able to keep their powers. Although some of them were too dangerous to use like the time players or the heart players. Karkat didn't really want his matesprit to end up corrupting something in the universe and basically playing on his own accidental suicide. Karkat as well as the rest of the group agreed that the godtier powers would be used for more extreme emergencies and nothing less.

They all roamed around the area until Tavros, who ran up ahead, thankfully spotted a cave. The group moved into the cave and all plopped down out of exhaustion. Everyone was tired, cold, and hungry. Their weariness could be taken care of easily as could their lack of warmth, but their hunger? That was another problem. They knew nothing of this planet, it all looked like desert, all sand. No animal or any kind of food really appeared to be residing in these parts. Though the probability of any kind of food appearing, Gamzee offered to go out hunting for them.

"Really, shit ain't no trouble. I could get my motherfuckin' hands dirty if it means we got some of that miraculous food fillin' us up." Gamzee offered, already pulling out that enormous spiked club of his. Everyone was looking at Karkat. They were all starving and he knew that, but he also knew that they were wary about letting _Gamzee_ go out and _kill_ something for food. Karkat chewed his lip and glanced around at the questioning faces before his eyes landed on his highblood friend. Gamzee stood there, oblivious to the others worry.

"Alright Gam..." Karkat said, finally breaking the semi-uncomfortable silence. "Go on." He nodded towards the open-mouth cave entrance and Gam grinned before happily striding out to hunt. Karkat waited until Gamzee was a few steps away before hastily turning to Tavros and mumbling. "Go with him. You still do that animal voodoo shit. It'll be a help." Tavros reluctantly nodded and jogged out after Gamzee, a small lance in his hand. The others immediately began preparing the cave so it would be somewhat liveable. Kanaya went out with Rose to gather things to create a fire, her skin illuminating the darkening outdoors. Nepeta molded some makeshift beds out of mud and the others cleaned out their sylladexes to ration whatever objects they had in there.

Around the time it was pitch dark outside, the group had a nice little fire and a couple cooked cluckbeasts to fill them up. They all sat there in uncomfortable silence for a while until ,thankfully, Eridan broke the silence.

"How the holy hell are we gonna do any a the shit we're plannin' on doing, Kar?" Eridan asked, glancing up at his friend. How _were_ they going to do this? Karkat was prepared to start "preaching" to a fresh set of trolls and humans, not ones already brainwashed. The cancer troll sat there in silence for a moment before shrugging.

"Honestly, I have no fucking clue. I mean, I was all prepped for an entirely different scenario." Karkat sighed and set the bone of what was once a very delicious cluckbeast down onto the ground, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I guess...we plan. We'll plan out every move, and until we do make said move, we stay under her imperial bitchiness' radar. But we'll also...we'll also get their mindset on it. On a world without her. A life without. It just seems like the best way to tackle this cluster fuck of a mess." Karkat stated. The others slowly nodded in agreement, that plan sounded better than their plans. What were their plans? To wing it.

So, they all began planning.

They all stayed hidden inside the cave they first found. Nepeta, Gamzee, and Tavros had became their official hunting squad for their nutrition needs. Kanaya, Vriska, and Rose were the ones who would go out and look for any kind of substance that would help create a roaring fire. Equius, Sollux, and Dirk had teamed up to create new objects out of the defeated scrap of drones they encountered. Feferi, Aradia, Eridan, Jake, and Dave would all go out into the nearby villages to sneak into the minds of the citizens of this world, asking them questions about how they feel about the current caste system and such questions to waver their loyalty. John, Jade, Roxy, and Terezi would sneak around the Empress' fairly large palace or battleship to try to obtain new information on her future plans. Jane became the official medical expert in the group, whenever someone had an sort of injury they would seek the help of Jane Crocker. Finally, everyone helped Karkat. They helped him on when he should make his debut as the Saviour of this broken world, they helped him plan which village would be the first to hear his sermons, but for some reason they couldn't help on writing out the sermons.

Karkat said the last time he "preached" was with the empress. He repeated the sermon to his friends, in English this time. The words held the same amount of power, wisdom, and sense of calmness with a hint of anger as when he screamed the out to the tyrant herself. His friends were moved, they never heard anyone speak so... _passionately_ before. It was like they were all filled with overwhelming sense of hope and confidence just by the little speech he gave. Finally, they all agreed that Karkat would be better off coming up with his speeches himself.

A solar sweep, or what humans say "two years", later and they were ready. After two years of precision planning they were finally ready to be known to the world. After two years of filling up the minds of young trolls and humans they were ready to make their debut and start the release of this shackles down world.

In those two years, many things changed. For one, their attire changed. It was difficult for Kanaya to make clothes out of the little fabric she had for such a large number of people. Those who godtiered mainly wore their godly pyjamas, but those who didn't had to wear whatever Kanaya could make. Karkat adopted the look of a cloak similar to one the Signless wore, Kanaya wore a similar one, one that was a Jade colour instead of Karkat's drab black one. Gamzee mostly wore only pants, he kept getting his shirts torn whenever he put them on due to his leg and sharp horns. Nepeta and Equius both wore muscle shirts with what felt like tights but Kanaya would argue they weren't. Eridan and Feferi adorned the normal "high blood" attire, well they wore it as best they could. Since all the money they had was being saved for later on when they start putting their preachings on the road, Eridan and Feferi wore their previous outfits with some alterations to fit their new frames. Sollux wore a yellow tank top with his sign sewed on in red and blue, it was long fitting to last him a nice long while, along with that he had a black and yellow headband to the keep his rapidly growing bangs away from his eyes. Tavros had the most unusual look of the group, he replaced the nose ring he had with a small bone, he still wore his old Taurus print tank top since it was pretty long for his previous frame, but he also wore wore a sort of fur vest he had Kanaya make from the fur of a beast he brought in for food.

Their clothing wasn't the only thing that changed, since they were older, they begs to look the part. The troll's' horns began growing and the trolls themselves began growing in height. Gamzee was the tallest, he was at least seven and a half feet tall by now, his horns adding a good foot to the equation. Karkat on the other hand, barely grew two inches, his horns staying the same size as before.

The time for the very first appearance of the new Signless came and everyone was in jitters. Kanaya ran around in a frenzy, making sure everyone was well stocked in weapons just in case and new their "positions". Karkat on the other hand seemed as calm as ever, he had no idea what he was going to say or if he would really be safe and all of these thoughts popped up in his mind causing him so much stress that it reached a point where it wasn't stressful. Dave, Feferi, Aradia, Jake, and Eridan left the cave earlier than the rest of the group to spread the new sofa troll who's thoughts may change the outcome of their future. After them; Nepeta, Equius, Jane, John, and Roxy all exited and made their way to the nearby village. Sollux, Jade, Terezi, and Vriska went out a few moments after them. The last group which consisted of Gamzee, Tavros, Rose, and Kanaya left the safety of the cave, leaving Karkat alone.

Karkat put out the small fire they had made earlier and pulled the hood over his head. He slid his small horns through the holes in the hood and smoothed out the rest of the cloak. He entertained the thought of hiding his sickle underneath his cloak but quickly shook the thought away. This was a sermon for peace, bring a weapon wouldn't exactly give off the peaceful vibe. Besides, the others had _plenty_ of weapons.

Finally, after a few minutes of quiet preparation, Karkat stepped out the cave. He walked rapidly toward the nearby village, the turtleneck he wore underneath his cloak starting to make him hot but he tried to ignore it as best as he could. He entered the village and heard a small commotion a couple blocks away and quickened his pace slightly. The cancer troll tried to come up with a few choice words but he couldn't think of any. His mind was a blank. The sound of the chittering trolls and humans was drawing closer and Karkat began to panic slightly. What was he going to say? What if he just stood there silently like an idiot.

The first thing Karkat saw where Gamzee's large horns, followed by his giant frame. His eyes scanned the small crowd all murmuring in excitement, looking for his friends. They were all scattered about the area as planned, Dave being the closest to the spot where Karkat would be. The Knight of Time had managed to find his iShades in the mess that was his sylladex and the three technological whizzes of the group managed to upgrade the shades so they had a built in camera. The plan for Dave's iShades was to record every single one of Karkat's sermons, Dave had, to no one's surprise, volunteered to join the Cancer troll on every single one.

The time had come. Karkat clambered onto small stack of hay left to make a sort of stage. He didn't dare lower his hood, he couldn't risk someone memorising his facial features and reporting him. The murmuring crowd instantly quieted down and Karkat glanced over at Dave. The human tapped the side of his shades and nodded, indicating that his iShades were on and ready. It was time.

Karkat was at a blank, he had no clue on what to say. He tried to calm himself, telling himself that he would do fine. He had boasted out that powerful and moving speech to the Condesce herself and he had come up with that on the spot. Karkat cleared his throat and began his first sermon.

"My people. You and I are here for one thing: Peace. You and I both want the same thing: Freedom. You and I both long for the sweet taste of freedom, for the blissful relaxation of peace. You and I both want a planet, a life, free of the iron grip of that horrible sea dweller who has deemed herself an "empress". We want a peaceful world. We want a world _without_ an oppressive blood hierarchy! A world _without_ the constant fear of death! We want to be able to have grubs and leave them with their lusii _without_ the fear of their custodian being culled for no good reason! We want to live in a world _without_ the fear of a drone knocking down the doors to our hives and culling us because our scheduled culling date has come. No, we want to live in a world free of these heinous acts! We are living beings, we deserve freedom. We deserve peace. We deserve a world _without_ Her Imperious Condescension!"

Karkat's words were filled with as much passion and power as ever. His voice boomed throughout the small area and all the trolls and humans listened silently, and in awe. This troll...this mysterious troll was describing a utopia. He was describing the image they have been creating in their minds for such a long time, an image they only thought to be a fantasy. But now, now this troll filled them with such hope for this possible future that they cheered. They cheered and clapped loudly, having faith for the future.

Dave smiled and stopped recording the scene. This was working, and soon enough they would have a free world, a free life.


	6. Their Journey

Four years.

Four years, that's how long the group of peacemakers spent spreading the wonderful teachings of peace around this broken world. During this time they gained quite a few followers. More and more trolls and humans alike would quickly drop everything and travel to the next village they were planning on spreading their peaceful teachings to. It was inspiring really. Many trolls and humans were risking their lives to follow them around and even spread the word of their preachings. So many of the empire's citizens longed for a free world, and so many more believed in their cause once they saw that the rainbow of trolls, from the mutant to the lowbloods to the next heiress, coming together to bring the world peace.Karkat's inspiring words and the knowledge of the fact that there's a possibility that there could be a new, more peaceful heiress as a leader gave many faith in this campaign for peace.

In the course of these four years, they all saw many things. They met many new people and created such strong bonds with one another. Karkat's moirallegiance with Gamzee was almost as strong as Nepeta and Equius'. Karkat’s matespritship with Dave was amazing, more to the trolls really, it was like they were in all the quadrant's at once. Then again that was what a human relationship was like. Vriska and Terezi's was complicated, they seemed to be...quadrant flipping between kismesitude and moirallegiance. Rose and Kanaya's relationship just made sense honestly, they just fit with one another. The relationships that really caught everyone off guard was the surprise matespritship between Feferi and Nepeta, but this one just made sense as well. So many new relationships budded along with old ones being brought up and given another chance. Aradia and Tavros' moirallegiance, Dirk and Jake's relationship, and the budding romance between Gamzee and Tavros.

So many things changed. Nepeta went from wearing her muscle shirt and "pants" to wearing the skins of animals and some loose fitting shorts, the look suited her in all honesty. Gamzee and Tavros also wore the _"I just killed an animal"_ look but they used bones instead, Tavros following the fashion statement of his Dancestor and Gamzee wearing the bones around his neck or sticking them in his hair. Eridan uncovered his old rings and bracelets from the depths of his sylladex and wore them proudly whilst Feferi stayed with her tiara and anklets.

Their fashion statements were all mixed, and that was for a reason. Kanaya hoped that maybe if some, Feferi and Eridan, were more well dressed than others, Karkat and Gamzee, that their cause would be more of a spectacle. And their clashing outfits did the trick.

Their mismatched outfits were one part of their journey, the other part was the actual travel they had no real route, they just went where the wind took them. Quite literally, Thanks to John's godtier aspect and Eridan's blood colour, they were able to get their hands on a goods ship. John was able to use his powers to make the ship float over the rooftops of the empire and onto their next destination wherever that may be. Whenever they did find their next stop they hid their ship fairly well and set out to find a decent living space for their temporary stay in that village. The kindness of strangers usually leads the group to staying in a vacant house or being given food and fabrics for more clothing. As a payment, Karkat would describe a world the world they longed for. He would describe how peaceful it would be, how even the waves of the crystal clear ocean would be relaxed. How trolls and humans would be able to live free of fear of being recruited for the Empress' army, how they wouldn't have to worry about their offspring's lusus being culled. How they didn't have to worry about drones.

It really was quite the wish, to be able to live in peace with humans or vice versa. Or to even be able to live freely with their alien partners. The Empress had shunned any and all inter-species relationships because then they couldn't reproduce, and if they can't reproduce than there would be less recruits for her armies. Because of this, all those longing to be with one another lost hope, but upon seeing Kanaya and Rose or Dave and Karkat, a small sliver of hope would appear. If they were together and happy, then maybe there was hope?

Karkat and Dave were in fact happy. Very happy. The three years of quadrant confusion and the questioning of human sexuality came to an end. Dave figured out all he needed to with the help of Kanaya and Rose. It was hard at first, realising that he was bisexual. Any sexuality that wasn't heteor was the taboo where he lived, but after some time he became more comfortable with the idea. Now, Dave was in a happy romantic and intimate relationship with the Saviour of the new world. The two often talked about raising a family together once this whole ordeal was over, of course they'd have to adopt. Karkat questioned why they couldn't just have have their own child and after a long (and awkward) conversation on how human reproduction worked, Karkat understood.

The two spent their free time like that. Fantasizing about the future possibility of raising children. A troll and a human. They thought about names, all of Karkat's ideas were the names of famous Alternian actors and all of Dave's were the names of his favourite rappers. Though the two did come up with two names that they both liked, Camber and Tate. The two would often cuddle at night, imagining their lives with little Camber or Tate or both. They would wish for that until they fell asleep in each other's arms. The next morning they would wake each other up with cute little greetings like _"wake up asshole, the food's getting cold."_ or _"if you don't wake up right the fuck now, we're leaving you here."_ That was their daily morning routine.

But it was different this time.

Dave stirred awake, pulling Karkat's cloak and his cape over himself more. He was cold, which was unusual. Karkat's unnatural body temperature kept the human warm throughout the night. Dave's hand groped the empty space in front of himself, a frown appearing when he didn't feel his boyfriend there beside him. His eyes fluttered open, confirming that the space beside him was infact empty. The Knight of Time let out a long sigh and shifted to his back, staring up at the cave above him. The other's were snoring, and it was still fairly dark outside. It was unusual...and worrying that Karkat wasn't there. Then again, maybe he had to use the makeshift load gaper? That was probably it. Dave shrugged and closed his eyes, falling back asleep.

The commotion the other's were making woke Dave up. He instantly glanced over to his side to see that the space was still empty. Karkat was probably with the others, right? The human stood up and stretched and scooped up the two garments he used as blankets. The cave wasn't huge, in fact this one was small than the others they had stayed in. Dave just had to float a few inches off the ground to peek over the heads of the crowd to see that Karkat wasn't there. Dave frowned once more, he was starting to get a bit worried. But no matter, Karkat was probably outside right? He often did that to determine which direction they'd be going in today.He poked his head out the open mouth cave entrance and looked around. No sign of Karkat.

Dave was starting to get really worried now. He floated out and above the cave, his eyes desperately scanning the ground underneath him, looking for any sign of his matesprit. Nothing. "Karkat!" Dave called out, desperation in his voice. Karkat couldn't have of disappeared like that. There was no way, where would he go? More importantly, _why_ would he leave? A few more minutes of anxious flying and the calling of the troll's name passed and Dave flew back into the cave, the others took no note of either of knights absence.

Dirk was the first to notice Dave's distressed state. His hair was a mess and he was clutching the cloak Karkat usually wore. The Prince of Heart excused himself from his conversation with Sollux and Equius, turning his attention towards Dave and causing the other's to turn their attention towards the upset Knight. Dave's eyes scanned the crowd once more, hoping that he perhaps missed his shouty boyfriend. No luck. Karkat wasn't there, he wasn't anywhere to be found. This was bad, very bad. Dave whimpered, tears threatening to spill over the edges of his eyes as he croaked out:

_"Where's Karkat?!"_


	7. The Final Sermon: Part 1

turntechGodhead[TG] **RIGHT NOW opened memo on board troll search party**

TG: any word on karkat? 

grimAuxiliatrix[GA] **RIGHT NOW responded to memo**

GA: There Is No Sign Of Him By The Mother Grubs Caverns.

terminallyCapricious[TC] **RIGHT NOW responded to memo**

TC: there ain't no motherfucking sign of him in the forest

TC: MOTHERFUCKER AIN'T SLEEPING EITHER, ALL UP AN USED MY NIGHTMARE SHIT TO LOOK FOR MY PALEST A LOVES. 

twinArmageddons[TA] **RIGHT NOW responded to memo**

TA: nothiing iin that one viilage fiiled wiith ca2te loviing freak2. or maybe they diid know and ju2t diidn't want two tell me becau2e they're diick2.

cuttlefishCuller[CC] **RIGHT NOW responded to memo**

CC: nep aradia and I )(aven't seen )(im on ANY of the beaches and )(e isnt underwater -EITHER 38(  


adiosToreader[AT] **RIGHT NOW responded to memo**

AT: nONE OF THE UH,,,lUSII AROUND THE AREA HAVE UH,,,sEEN HIM,,,

caligulasAquarium[CA] **RIGHT NOW responded to memo**

CA: this all is a bunch a bullfuckery, wwe ain't gonna find him by putterin around like nincompoops.

CA: I suggest wwe take this straight to the source.

arachnidsGrip[AG] **RIGHT NOW responded to memo**

AG: put a sock in it Eridan. you just want to fly your liiiiiiiittle 8attle ship to the empress and get yourself killed. 

CA: wwell at least its better than walkin around like dumbasses.

TG: y'all know that arguing over stupid shit won't find him faster, right?

AG: this isn't an argument, Strider, it's a healthy de8a8.

timaeusTestified[TT] **RIGHT NOW responded to memo**

TT: Whatever kind of weird argument/debate is going on between the fish and the spider, maybe this will aid us in our search.

timaeusTestified[TT] **posted a video to memo on board troll search party**

Dave clicked on the video. He was on edge, they haven't found Karkat in two days. Dave's mind was racing with all the worst possibilities. Karkat could be dead, or worse. Karkat could've been taken prisoner and being tortured as they speak. They could have them chained up and doing every torturous plan in the book, trying to make him give off any and all information of their current location. Dave shook those thoughts out of his head. Karkat was fine, he had to be fine. It was Karkat for god's sake. Karkat had survived every shit storm the universe had given him, Karkat could and would survive this.

The video finished loading, a bright fuschia pisces symbol appearing on the screen. The Strider frowned as the zodiac sign faded from the screen and was replaced by the hideous face of Her Imperious Condescension.

_"All a yous betta drop whatever the fuck you're doin and listen the fuck up."_

Ugh. Dave hated the way this fishy bastard spoke. She had absolutely no class, it was just downright annoying. But, Dave forced himself to continue watching the video. If it meant getting some information on Karkat, Dave would watch this video ten times.

_"There's been a gang a trolls an humans tryin to challenge my authority. Me, can ya believe it? The leader a this group is none other than a piece a mutant scum with a supposed dream 'bout some sorta "peaceful" world. Well, I'm gonna tell ya all some shit right now. This world we live in, it's as peaceful as it's gettin. You humans an us trolls, we can't get along, we ain't meant to, I'm here to keep us all in check. I'm here from keepin us all from cullin each other. That mutant that's been travelin the world has been corruptin your thinkpans. He's just gettin yous all pumped up for nothin. He's tryin to get us all killed. He's exactly like his broken minded ancestor. Well guess what? If he wants to be like his ancestor, he'll end up like him. He'll be executed just like his brave and idiotic ancestor. From the shackles to the burnin. It'll be exactly the same. 'Cept this time I'll be the one that does this, the only other clown round here had to be pale for this motherfucker. For all a yous that know this mutant was tryin to fill your pans up with gunk, feel free to come watch as this mutant gets gutted. It'll be boatloads a fun."_

With that, the screen faded black and the fuschia pisces symbol appeared before Dave's iShades turned to static. Dave couldn't believe it. His mouth was hanging agape and his breath caught in his throat. Karkat was being put up for execution and he had no idea where he was. Dave let out a shaky breath and went back to the memo, his eyes brimming with tears.

TT: This was played on every machine with a screen on it a couple hours ago.

TT: Anybody recognize the scenery in the bg?

tentacleTherapist[TT] **RIGHT NOW responded to memo**

TT: I believe that is the Condescension battleship? Although i may be wrong, her surplus amount of hair covers up most of the screen.

TT: Yeah, her ship's in the bg but that wasn't what i was referring to.

centaursTesticle[CT] **RIGHT NOW responded to memo**

CT: D-- > I believe he is referring to the scenery that is briefly shown at the end of the video.

TT: Yep. Horse dude cracked the code.

GA: Ah, Yes. The Scenery Does Seem Familiar. I Believe It Is The First Village We Have Encountered Since Our Arrival Here.

TT: Bingo.

TG: wait, she has him there?

TT: I can see her reasoning for taking him there. It is quite far from all our current locations, It would be near impossible for us to get there in time for whatever hellish reenactment of an execution the batterwitch has planned for our friend.

TT: Yeah, how did the dude's ancestor die?

CA: i believve i can shed some light on the matter, i am a vvery KNOWWLEDGEABLE historian after all.

TA: quiit the gloatiing and get two the poiint, fii2h diick. every miinute wa2ted ii2 a miinute clo2er to KK'2 death.

CA: fuck off you uncultured swwine.

CA: ANYWWAY. the signless wwas basically publically executed. he wwas tortured in front a bunch a people then, after his "final sermon", he wwas shot wwith an arrow by equius' ancestor and his dead body was burned to a pile a ashes.

apocalypseArisen **RIGHT NOW responded to memo**

AA: i believe youre forgetting about the burning hot handcuffs, made by equius' ancestor, that bound his wrists. they were in the shape of his writing quirk which was later turned into karkat's sign. the white hot irons that held him were left to cool on the pile of his ashes and the irons were later turned into little necklaces of his sign. i believe karkat wears the one that was given to the disciple.

AA: but dont worry eridan, that was only a little fact you forgot.

AA: OuO

CA: all a that information is USELESS in THIS situation, aradia. thats wwhy i DIDNT post it.

TT: It's amazing how long that little iron necklace lasted. It's been what? Two? Three thousand troll years? And it still looks as good as new. That's grade A metallurgy.

CT: D--> yes, well my b100d line takes great pride in making e%cellent metal work. Our machinery or any variety of our products have only but the STRONGEST metals.

TG: yeah yeah, little necklace lasts a long time. really fucking interesting. but we're getting derailed from the 'lets save my boyfriend' train. lets just hop back on the tracks and choo choo this motherfucker straight back to that place and save karkat's ass.

GA: I Agree With Dave. I Say We All Meet Up Back In Our Previous Living Space And Make Our Way Towards The Village In Which Our Entire Journey Began.

ectoBiologist[EB] **RIGHT NOW responded to memo**

EB: i'll turn the ship around right away! i just need to get the others back up here! meet you guys back at the cave in a few!

TG: great, see you guys then. and dont get killed, we dont need anymore shit happening on top of this giant plate of spaghetti and shit balls.

TG **closed memo.**

Dave sighed and closed the chatting application on his iShades. His hand gripped the handle of his sword tighter as a shaky breath escaped him. He had flown a good two miles away from the cave just in case he saw Karkat. Obviously he wouldn't be able to seeing as how Karkat was almost all the way across the damn planet. He began floating back to the cave, tears threatening to spill over his eyes once again. Dave only hoped that they would all get there before Karkat's horrible execution took place. 


	8. The Final Sermon: Part 2

John was moving the giant ship as fast as he could, they had to get there before anything happened. Jade offered to use her space powers but they wanted to get there fast, not accidentally rip a gaping hole in the fabric of space and time. Dave was on edge, everyone was on edge really. They had all grown close to Karkat. They became used to his rants over any and everything. His lessons in quadrants, his useless defense of the honor of romantic comedies, his beautifully worded sermons or his random praise of his friends. Everyone was anxious.

Dave looked around at the solemn group that stood at the ready, prepared for anything. Kanaya was nervously fiddling with the good of her cloak and twirling her lipstick. Vriska had "upgraded" her godtier uniform to that pirate outfit, she and Terezi had their arms locked with one another's and their swords were drawn and at the ready. Aradia's wings were fluttering nervously and she was mumbling some encouraging words Tavros' way. Sollux's psionics were crackling loudly, Gamzee was gripping his enormous spiked club tightly, Equius kept cracking his knuckles and Jane was at the ready to do any sort of lifey thing.

Seeing all of this gave Dave a sort of...happy feeling. It gave him a happy feeling because back during the game Karkat would almost always complain about next to no one cared for him and all those common horrible things. Of course hearing this upset the Knight of Time and he tried time and time again to convince the troll that none of what he thought was true, but the troll never believed him. Now there was an entire group risking their lives for Karkat. There was people here that once hated Karkat or didn't even know him, now risking their lives so he would live on. Yes, they were doing this because Karkat was the saviour of this world but they were also doing this because Karkat was their friend. They were doing it because in the past two years they had all grown close and they all cared for one another.

It was dusk around the time the ship began to get near the village. A stream of people was seen marching into the city, they must be the ones sick enough to watch this horrible act. John parked the ship somewhere that wasn't clearly visible to the trolls and humans currently marching inside the village. They all scrambled off the giant ship, everyone waiting for the rest to jump off. Everyone except Dave. Dave was already flying at max speed towards the village, his sword at the ready.

Now, when Dave flew into the town center, he was expecting a lot of things. He was expecting a crowd in the center patiently awaiting something to happen. He was expecting Karkat to be slightly beat up and chained to the center. He was expecting Karkat NOT beat up but still chained down. He was expecting the Condesce standing there making a huge as fuck speech about staying in line with the weird hierarchical society they had here. What Dave didn't expect was to see was Karkat standing with his back pressed to a wooden board, hands being held up by some sort of handcuffs. The handcuffs were red hot, literally. The gray irons were now coloured red with heat and smoke was emerging from them. Karkat's turtle neck was torn in several places and was soaked in the cancer trolls candy red blood. Cuts, slashes, bruises and burns littered the revealed parts of his flesh and the tip of his right horn was broken off.

Dave couldn't move. It was like he was paralyzed, he stayed floating in place, just behind the crowd but hovering above their heads. Tears were streaming down his face. Why wasn't he moving? He had to help Karkat, he had to help him. As if on cue, the cancer troll glanced up at the Knight of Time, one of his eyes were swollen shut and his lip had a cut on it but the troll still smiled lovingly at his matesprit. This action only made Dave cry even harder. Why couldn't he move? Why weren't the others here yet?

The fishy bastard that was causing the love of Dave's life so much appeared along with a smaller sort of drone. This drone held some sort of weapon that was alien to the human and he wanted it to stay alien to him. Dave averted his gaze from his matesprit to the screen currently being projected on his shades. Why weren't the others here yet?

turntechGodhead[TG] **opened memo on board troll search party**

TG: WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU GUYS

TG: OH MAN OH MAN OH MAN

TG: SHITS GOING DOWN

TG: COULD SERIOUSLY USE YOU GUYS HERE

terminallyCapricious[TC] **RIGHT NOW responded to memo**

TG: yes, this is good. i could actually use some crazy clown back up atm

TC: :o?

TG: lets just stop posting on this stupid message board

TG: and start getting your FUCKING ASSES over here

TG: im fucking paralyzed

TG: no offense TV

TC: motherfucker, ya all up an ain't makin' no motherfuckin sense no more. we can't fuckin find ya anywhere.

TG: are you guys fucking joking.

TG: honestly why am i wasting my time on this message board any longer

TG: my goddamn BOYFRIEND is getting fucking KILLED in front of me and i'm floating here like an asshole as hes getting fucking beaten by a damn mini-robot and fish hitler.

TG: hahaha guess this is the way i deal with shit now?????

TC: DID A MOTHERFUCKER JUST SAY GETTIN KILLED?

turntechGodhead[TG] **posted a photo on memo board troll search party**

terminallyCapricious[TC] **ceased trolling memo board troll search party**

TG **closed memo**

Dave turned his attention back towards his matesprit, seeing new injuries on his grey skin. This was bad, very bad. And Dave didn't know what to do. His emotions were in a jumble. Dave was always prepared for fighting, hell his entire life was a damn fight. He had to fight his Bro on a daily basis. He had to fight off hunger by searching for food in his apartment because his Bro apparently never heard of a fucking grocery store. He had to fight off his paranoia on the meteor because he always thought his brother was around the corner, ready to pounce. But for some reason Dave couldn't sum up the courage to just fly into battle right now, kill the fish bitch, and save the love of his life.

"Any last words?" There it was, that horrible voice of the Empress. That gut-wrenching voice pulled Dave out of his jumble of thoughts and turned his attention back towards the heart breaking scene unfolding before him. The Empress held her double sided culling fork tightly in one heavily ringed hand. Karkat weakly lifted his head up and glanced at Dave, giving him a little nod. It took the human a moment but he soon realised that the dying troll was indicating that he should record this. Dave lifted a shaky finger and tapped the side of his iShades, nodding back at Karkat. Karkat nodded at Dave discreetly before turning back at the sea dweller and nodding at her. "Well then, let's all hear your final sermon." She snicker and Karkat glared at her. He took a painful looking breath before he opened his mouth and spoke, some blood dripping out of his mouth as he did.

"My Final Sermon. What a nice little title, one for the books honestly. But before my inevitable and in all honesty painful death, I do have a few words to say." Karkat turned his head slowly towards the crowd, his chest heaving with each breath he took. "All of you that came here to witness my death, I have one thing to say to you, and the bitch hosting this event. You haven't won. You may think that because you're killing me that those things I've shared, the lives I've given faith and restored hope to will just die down? You think that because _I_ die that so will the longing for a better world will too? You're wrong, and you know you're wrong. Look at me, my ancestor had the same dream and he died before he could ever see it come true. He died the way I'm about to, he died but his teachings never died. His followers lived on and shared his preachings, they planned for sweeps in secrecy for the new saviour- me -to rise again. To bring peace. Well I personally promised him that I would accomplish his dream, and that's what I'm doing."

"Please." The Empress scoffed as she raised her culling fork slightly, rolling her eyes. "Ya ain't accomplishin' nothin'. Ya failed just like that other mutant. I won, ya lost. Just like before."

"No. I won, and you know it. If you didn't know we were winning then why would you feel the need to execute me? You feel _threatened._ Your position is being challenged, people are starting to unite _against_ you. You're _scared._ And because you have all this supposed power, what do you do? You kill off the threat. You kill it off in hopes that once the source of the threat is dead, that all the other groups will die off as well. _You're fucking weak._ " The Empress growled and raised her culling fork to the mutant's chest, pressing it in slightly. "You're weak because you know that people are one by one starting to turn against you, even your most loyal have turned their backs on you." Karkat's eyes landed over to Dave, who was currently fighting back tears. The Cancer troll spoke again, his voice louder yet still filled with that flaming passion he's had all these years, his gaze not faltering from Dave.

"Your people see my friends and I, a group of highbloods, lowbloods, trolls, humans, and they see hope. They see a fuschia blood, your descendent!, in a very committed matespritship with an olive blood, they see a mutant and a human in a matespritship. They see a mutant and a purple blood being paler than the palest star around. They see all these trolls and humans getting along all the time. They see my friends and I roaming this planet all preaching together about a planet that's peaceful. A planet where we could all live in harmony. A planet without the constant fear of death or being drafted into your army or without the fear of being with the one they long to be with because the other is of a different blood colour or species." Dave's cheeks were wet, he couldn't stop crying and it looked like Karkat was crying as well. The dying cancer troll breathed a shaky breath and tried to compose himself before he spoke again.

"These people, they gain hope for a world that is free. A world that is peaceful. Now, I ask all of you still loyal to this...this...monster. Is this really what you want. Is she really the ruler we need? You may think that this is the only way we can survive, but let me assure you it isn't. Cold are her hands as she graciously welcomes you to her empire, promising you all a happy life as long as you conform to her unjust rules. She welcomes you to her Empire with a hug, but the hug will soon turn into a strangle. She's strangling us into this unfair lifestyle. This is not fucking lifestyle, this is just....this is hell. And for this way you've been treating all of those loyal to you in your empire, I say _fuck you!_ "

"Gettin' angry boy?" The Empress snickered as she pressed the fork into his chest more, a tinge of fear in her smug expression. She was scared, Karkat got that right. The mood of the once excited crowd had shifted. They were uncertain, was this really what they wanted? Was this really where their loyalty lay? They didn't know, and this is what scared the Empress. Karkat's words had gotten to them.

"I am angry." Karkat confirmed as he felt the sharp tip of the culling fork digging into his chest. His gaze had never faltered from Dave's floating silhouette. The cancer troll wanted to Dave to be the last thing he saw before his inevitable death. "I am angry because _I forgive you._ " This caught everyone off guard. Karkat took a deep breath and spoke again, tears pouring out of his eyes. "I forgive you for causing me to lose my childhood back on Alternia because of my mutation. I forgive you for making me lose six years of my life roaming around trying to fix the world you broke when I could've spent with my beautiful, amazing, matesprit whom I love with all my blood pusher. I forgive you for dragging my moirail's last name through the damn mud and making him paranoid for years because he thought he was supposed to be some fucking murderer for you when he grew up. I forgive you depriving me of the life I could've had, depriving me of a family I could've had. Depriving me of happiness. I forgive you for torturing and killing me. _I forgive you._ " Everyone was quiet, eerily so. Karkat's laboured breathing was the loudest noise so far. He shot an apologetic look Dave's way before speaking again.

"I forgive you, for all these horrible things you've done, but just know this. I do not begrudge you your power, just know that its abuse will bring your downfall." That was it, the deal closer. The Empress froze for a second at hearing that line used once again. The last line the Signless had told her and the same line this little mutant had told her before this whole rebellion crap started again. She was scared, and it was highly noticeable. But she quickly turned that fear into hatred and plunged her culling fork deep into Karkat's chest.

Karkat Vantas was dead.

Dave's eyes widened and he let out a strangled call of Karkat's name, but of course the troll didn't answer.

The Empress spat in disgust at the corpse of the troll in front of her as some screams of protest emerged from the crowd. The little drone besides the sea dweller began hastily pouring gasoline on the upright corpse of Dave's matesprit before it quickly lit a match. Dave tried to move, every atom in his body screamed at him to move to do something other than just float there like an asshole, but he didn't move. He couldn't move.

The drone had lit several more matches before it threw all the lit matches at Karkat's corpse, burning the body of the already dead troll.


	9. Mourning for the Dead

Trolls and humans all scrambled upon hearing the loud roar sounding honk rip through the area. It echoed and bounced off the buildings, shaking the rafters on the rooftops. Dave was still just floating there, his iShades still recording all that was going on. Recording as the citizens scrambled away from the raging highblood. As the corpse of his beloved boyfriend quickly turned to a mere pile of ash. Recording as Gamzee froze for a mere second as he realised that the fire was composed of the remains of his friend.

It was like a bomb went off. Gamzee instantly lost all control. All those years of keeping his wild side tamed and in check just flew out the window. It was a quick process really. The yellow around his eyes turned bright red, his mouth curling over his knife like teeth. The capricorn troll let out a loud enraged honk, louder than the previous one. If there were any subjugglators left they would mistake this honk for the one their messiah's would've unleashed. This loud noise emitting from the enraged clown would later be recorded in the history books of the future generation's trolls and humans as the Vast Honk.

A clutter of items fell from midair, besides the ashes of the deceased cancer troll and the clown lost it once more. Gamzee whipped around, his spiked club in hand. The purple blooded troll snarled out at the remaining members of the group, baring his large fangs. This wasn't good. Karkat, being Gamzee's moirail, would've easily pacified the subjugglator. But Karkat wasn't here and he wouldn't be coming back any time soon.

Gamzee's growled a warning growl, his eyes scanning the scared faces of the trolls and humans, of his friends. They all just stood there, Dave still not comprehending the situation as fast as the others, he just felt numb. The others, however, were trying their hardest to come up with some way out of being splattered all over the streets. Vriska simply reused the plan that had seemed to work oh so long ago on the meteor. The Thief of Life fluttered slowly towards the Bard of Rage. Gamzee instantly reacted but the Cerulean blood was quicker. Yes, luck was most certainly on her side. In an instant she had gained control over the purple blood's broken thinkpan and eased his rage.

A collective sigh of relief escaped the group as the highblood's shoulder's slumped and a light cerulean glow was seen in his eyes. That was one problem they didn't have to worry about. Now there was the matter of the ashes. Everyone nervously looked at one another until finally Sollux stepped up to the challenge.

The Gemini troll slowly made his way to the ashes and crouched down. An empty jar, one of many that he mainly used to keep any sort of food they could find, dropped from the air and into his hand. Sollux pushed his red and blue glasses up on his forehead and wiped the yellow tears that were starting to stream down his cheek. Slowly and carefully, and with the aid of his psionics, the yellow blood was able to gather all the ashes and set them inside the jar. Amongst the remains of the cancer troll Sollux found the small iron necklace. He quickly put the necklace in his sylladex along with the still warm handcuffs.

Holding the jar Sollux, using his psionics, floated up to the still paralyzed Dave. He offered him the jar but the Knight of Time simply stared at it through his shades. Once again, the Mage of Doom offered his friend the jar but this time instead of just looking at it, Dave reacted.

It was like another bomb went off. The human let out a strangled sob and keened over. The other's were slightly surprised, Dave was more composed in these situations. Even when his Bro died he hadn't made this big a deal, then again his Bro was a dick and Karkat was his matesprit. The human continued his wails of grief, a river of tears staining his cheeks and his iShades threatening to fall off his face. He couldn't believe it, Karkat had just been killed in front of him and he _didn't do anything to save him._ Dave felt the grief begin to mix in with intense guilt. He should've done something. He should've used his godly time powers to stop this execution. But he didn't.

The Knight of Time continued his little temper tantrum, his iShades successfully flew off his face to show off his red eyes that were puffy and still producing large amounts of salty tears. Dave had long since ceased floating and had gone down to the ground, his limbs flailing about. After a few more moments of the human's breakdown, Rose made an attempt to comfort him. She was a semi-experienced therapist but alas, the Seer of Light could not pacify her brother. Rose took a step away from Dave as Kanaya stepped towards him. The Jade blood was a wreck, Karkat was her dear friend. She felt an overwhelming urge to protect him, care for him, be there for him. This emotion wasn't exactly pale, it was more of a mother's need to protect her young but calling it pale was the easiest way to describe it. Now that her friend was dead she was in tatters. Karkat had died and she wasn't there to protect him. She hadn't lived up to her end of the deal with Echidna.

"Dave." Kanaya whispered, her skin illuminating the dark area around her. "I know it's hard. I know it hurts. It hurts us all too, we all grew so close to Karkat and his rambunctious personality, but you must calm down. I know you're in pain and I know you may think that it may never end but it will. Please, just deep breaths. Sit up and take some deep breaths." Kanaya murmured in soothing motherly voice of hers. Dave nodded slowly and complied to Kanaya's instructions. He sat up and tried to take deep breaths and calm himself but he couldn't. Another wave of loud sobbing hit him and he babbled out a string of incoherent words but the rainbow drinker seemed to have of understood.

"I know you may think that this whole outcome is your fault but it isn't. We all blame ourselves for this. We weren't careful enough, we should've all been here to help sooner. I know you may never get over this but I can assure you that this is not your fault. If my Dear Rose was the one in this situation instead of Karkat and this outcome happened to her I would blame myself as well. As would Nepeta if it were Feferi." Dave nodded slowly, his stream of tears coming to a stop and being replaced with dry sobs and hiccups instead. The Jade blood helped Dave up to his feet and nodded to the others.

After collecting Karkat's items, which had dropped from his sylladex, the group all walked back to the ship in silence. What were they going to do now? Would they continue spreading the preachings like before? If so, how? Karkat was the one with the way with words? And what about his followers? Did they already gain knowledge of the Knight of Blood's death? All these questions buzzed around in their heads as the group settled back into the cave where they spent their first two years, planning and preparing for their long journey. They quickly made a camp and instantly went to bed, not bothering to hunt any animals for food that night. Their grief had killed any appetite.

One month after Karkat's death and they hadn't left the cave. Rose, Kanaya, Aradia, Dirk, Jade, and Sollux were the only ones who had really left, only to let the news of Karkat's death spread to all those who followed him. Throughout the month trolls and humans all made their own journey to the cave in which the group resided to pay their respects to their brave leader. Gifts of food and fabrics were brought as well for the group to survive.

Gamzee still was under Vriska's mind control, they didn't want to risk getting anyone hurt or killed so they had pushed off setting his mind free. Dave on the hand wasn't under any sort of mind control but sure as hell acted like it. He hardly moved from his sitting position, always just sitting there, watching and rewatching the videos he took of Karkat on his iShades. He stayed wrapped up in the cancer troll's thick cloak, hood pulled over his face. John and Jade took turns bringing Dave his food and Jane had to remind the Strider to bathe.

Dave was numb. He missed Karkat. He missed him so damn much. He missed Karkat's rants. He missed his unreasonable love for romantic comedies. He missed the way Karkat would purr when Dave would snuggle up to him at night. He missed how gently Karkat was and how lovingly he stared into the other's eyes as they made love. He missed listening to Karkat's sermons, he missed those powerful and passionate words. _He missed Karkat._

No one really knew how to get over the fact that Karkat was gone. They didn't know how to continue their campaign for peace. They were lost without their leader's guidance. But that would soon change.

The Knight of Time finally came out of his shell, surprising the others. Dave woke up early, half expecting Karkat to be lying beside him but sadly there wasn't any sign of him. He slowly took off his iShades and awaited the others to wake up. It took a couple hours but they did wake. Without a word the Knight of Time gathered all of his friends and had them all sit in a small cluster. He set his shades down, the screen that usually played on the lens was now being projected on the wall. A moment later, videos were playing.

All the videos that Dave had taken over the past six years were now playing. From more serious videos of Karkat's preachings to lighter ones of Karkat that Dave took. Karkat just reading his trashy romance novels as he softly sang along to Dave's old raps. Karkat being forced to be a mannequin for Kanaya as she adjusted the sizes of clothing. Karkat conversing with a mix of his friends. Karkat and Dave speaking quietly to each other of their future plans for a family. Karkat doing his pale duties of cuddling with his mountain like moirail.

Somewhere along the line of videos, Dave nudged Vriska and nodded towards the zombie-like Gamzee. Vriska hesitantly released her grip on the subjugglators thinkpan. He was confused at first, and the confusion turned to rage. But his eyes landed on the the projected screen of his deceased moirail. Gamzee's angry snarl fell and he focused his attention to the current video of Karkat. The videos came to an end, ending with Karkat's "Final Sermon". Thankfully this time Gamzee didn't snap. All the clown really needed was to see his palest of loves one more time. It made his blood pumper skip a beat to know that his moirail was thinking of Gamzee in his final moments.

They all sat in silence when the stream of videos ended, just reminiscing of the times they shared with their dear friend. Gamzee was the one to break the silence.

"We can't let the motherfucker die in vain." Gamzee mumbled in his low, raspy voice. No one knew what to do, they were all still a bit uneasy around the purple blooded troll. Tavros was the one brave enough to answer.

"W-Well...what are we gonna do...?"

"We're gonna motherfuckin' fight."


	10. Speaking to the Dead

Gamzee's suggestion shocked them all. Fight? They had spent the past four years preaching about peace. What would their devout followers think if they suddenly changed gears and started an army? Would they be all for this battle? Gamzee's suggestion lingered in the air, everyone contemplating the pros and cons in their minds. Finally, they all slowly nodded.

Their small battle plans began with Sollux. His current task was, since he was the best, to hack into the empire's super computer and play the video on every single monitor that was controlled by the empire; TV's, husktops, palmhusks, even the little monitors on the drones. It was simple enough a task for someone like the clever yellow blood. He borrowed Dave's precious iShades for a couple minutes, downloading the video onto his husktop, before handing them back and beginning his work.

He had to admit, hacking into the empire was fairly easy. All the Empress' passwords were the same. But actually posting the video? That was the hard part. First off the layout was all over the place, he couldn't find a damn thing. Once the gemini was able to get a feel of this wonky setup, he had to now post the actual video and make sure he masked their location. He couldn't risk accidentally leaving out their location and getting everyone else killed. That would probably set their battle plans back a bit.

The psionic troll quickly sent and posted the video, making sure that there was no way whatsoever that they could be tracked down. Once all this was over with, Sollux's screen went to static and the video of Karkat's Final Sermon began blaring out. He had programmed the video to play every hour until further notice, or they could just go on the Empire's private website and click on the video there. Sollux took it a step further and made the video password protected, making sure no one would be able to take It down. Sollux grinned at his handiwork and turned his attention to the final recorded moments of his best friend.

_"My Final Sermon. What a nice little title, one for the books honestly. But before my inevitable and in all honesty painful death, I do have a few words to say. All of you that came here to witness my death, I have one thing to say to you, and the bitch hosting this event. You haven't won. You may think that because you're killing me that those things I've shared, the lives I've given faith and restored hope to will just die down? You think that because I die that so will the longing for a better world will too? You're wrong, and you know you're wrong. Look at me, my ancestor had the same dream and he died before he could ever see it come true. He died the way I'm about to, he died but his teachings never died. His followers lived on and shared his preachings, they planned for sweeps in secrecy for the new saviour- me -to rise again. To bring peace. Well I personally promised him that I would accomplish his dream, and that's what I'm doing."_

_"Please. Ya ain't accomplishin' nothin'. Ya failed just like that other mutant. I won, ya lost. Just like before."_

_"No. I won, and you know it. If you didn't know we were winning then why would you feel the need to execute me? You feel threatened. Your position is being challenged, people are starting to unite against you. You're scared. And because you have all this supposed power, what do you do? You kill off the threat. You kill it off in hopes that once the source of the threat is dead, that all the other groups will die off as well. You're fucking weak. You're weak because you know that people are one by one starting to turn against you, even your most loyal have turned their backs on you."_

_"Your people see my friends and I, a group of highbloods, lowbloods, trolls, humans, and they see hope. They see a fuschia blood, your descendent!, in a very committed matespritship with an olive blood, they see a mutant and a human in a matespritship. They see a mutant and a purple blood being paler than the palest star around. They see all these trolls and humans getting along all the time. They see my friends and I roaming this planet all preaching together about a planet that's peaceful. A planet where we could all live in harmony. A planet without the constant fear of death or being drafted into your army or without the fear of being with the one they long to be with because the other is of a different blood colour or species."_

_"These people, they gain hope for a world that is free. A world that is peaceful. Now, I ask all of you still loyal to this...this...monster. Is this really what you want. Is she really the ruler we need? You may think that this is the only way we can survive, but let me assure you it isn't. Cold are her hands as she graciously welcomes you to her empire, promising you all a happy life as long as you conform to her unjust rules. She welcomes you to her Empire with a hug, but the hug will soon turn into a strangle. She's strangling us into this unfair lifestyle. This is not fucking lifestyle, this is just....this is hell. And for this way you've been treating all of those loyal to you in your empire, I say fuck you!"_

_"Gettin' angry boy?"_

_"I am angry. I am angry because I forgive you. I forgive you for causing me to lose my childhood back on Alternia because of my mutation. I forgive you for making me lose six years of my life roaming around trying to fix the world you broke when I could've spent with my beautiful, amazing, matesprit whom I love with all my blood pusher. I forgive you for dragging my moirail's last name through the damn mud and making him paranoid for years because he thought he was supposed to be some fucking murderer for you when he grew up. I forgive you depriving me of the life I could've had, depriving me of a family I could've had. Depriving me of happiness. I forgive you for torturing and killing me. I forgive you."_

_"I forgive you, for all these horrible things you've done, but just know this. I do not begrudge you your power, just know that its abuse will bring your downfall."_

Sollux looked away as Karkat was killed, he didn't want to watch that again. But at least now the entire world would know exactly how their leader had died, and they would at least get to hear his final words.

Sollux sat there in silence for a moment. His nimble fingers were hovering over his keyboard. He glanced up at the others, they were all too distracted. Some were with Dave, trying to get him to say something, anything. Some with Gamzee, discussing whatever plans they had, and a couple with Jane. She was trying yet again to revive the pile of ashes that was their leader. The yellow blooded troll took a deep breath and his boney fingers began typing at once.

twinArmageddons[TA] **began trolling** carcinoGeneticist[CG]

TA: hey KK

TA: thii2 ii2 kiind of 2ad now ii2nt iit?

TA: iim me22agiing the fuckiing hu2ktop of a dead troll.

TA: then agaiin that dead troll wa2/ii2 my good bro.

TA: iit2 2tiill 2ad though.

TA: iit2 2ad that iim 2iittiing here, remiinii2ciing about all tho2e good tiime2 we had back before everythiing went two 2hiit.

TA: remember back when we fiir2t met? you were 2hy a2 fuck. you typed iin 2mall text and alway2 2ounded ab2olutely terriifiied liike ii wa2 goiing two reach through the damn 2creen and pluck your fuckiing eye2 out. then iit all changed and you became the 2houty a22hole we all came two know and love.

TA: remember how we would alway2 fuckiing fiight about everything? about your 2hiitty moviie2 and my codiing 2kiills ver2u2 your2. we would even argue about who2 quiirk wa2 more annoyiing.

TA: then there were the time2 when wed be so fuckiing pale for each other iit wa2 riidiiculou2. wed have weiird onliine feel2 jam2 and all that fun 2hiit. id complain about that one a22hole in the floor below me or complaiin about bicyclops dad or how my buddiing p2iioniic2 were actiing up.

TA: youd talk about how crabdad brought you more dead aniimal2 or fece2. or how there were 2o many fuckiing drone2 ciircliing your hive and how you were 2o 2cared of dyiing.

TA: then there would be the time2 where we would fuckiing fliirt wiith each other. remember that?

TA: remember how badly wed fliirt wiith each other? remember all tho2e 2hiitty piick up liine2 youd u2e on me and ii would iin turn 2end you a code that had 2ome 2ort of shiitty liittle .jpeg iimage on iit liike a heart or an ediited ver2ion of your favouriite moviie po2ter wiith our horn2 and 2iigns on the actor2 in2tead.

TA: remember how our con2tant quadrant vaciiliitatiion cau2ed u2 2o much fuckiing 2tress? remember when you actually fuckiing confe22ed two me that you were jealou2 ii wa2 datiing AA then that fuckiing iinciident happened and you 2pent fiive hour2 con2oliing me?

TA: remember when we actually dated? back before these iin2ufferable priick2 came iinto the piicture? back on the meteor? that wa2 a great periigee, ii wii2h iit couldve la2ted longer. hone2tly ii have two 2ay, that wa2 the be2t red rom relatiion2hip iive had. AA wa2 great but ii gue22 iit wa2 becau2e you and ii knew each other 2o well?

TA: yeah, that was probably iit. we were really clo2e. liike, two clo2e. remember when we 2hared a fuckiing re2piiteblock and even a fuckiing make2hiift coon? tho2e were the day2. ii really took our tiime twogether for granted diidnt ii?

TA: the good thiing ii2, ii miight 2ee you agaiin. dream bubble2 are 2tiill functiional, but rarely. iitd be a fuckiing miiracle iif we get another dream bubble 2oon. fiir2t thiing iim gonna do ii2 look for you.

TA: iive reached my low poiint havent ii? iim me22agiing a fuckiing dead per2on. a dead per2on that ii had confu2ed feeliing2 about and would 2cream at everythiing and managed two fiind the good iin everyone and would a2k me iif we were 2tiill friiend2 after an arguement.

TA: you were fuckiing amaziing, a2 a leader and a friiend. you went through 2o much 2hiit and you diidnt de2erve any of iit.

TA: ii gotta go, GZ ii2 calliing me over for a meetiing. he2 2tepped up a2 the leader 2iince you kiicked the can.

TA: later KK

TA: oh, and inca2e youre wonderiing, wherever you are. ye2. were 2tiill friiend2.

twinArmageddons[TA] **ceased trolling** carcinoGeneticist[CG]


	11. Apologies and Reconciliation

Gamzee had taken the leadership position he had indirectly inherited pretty seriously. He had spent so much time observing Karkat he had managed to pick up a couple tricks. The capricorn troll split the group up into little teams. Vriska, Terezi, John, Jade, Roxy, Equius, Nepeta, and Jane all set out to spread the word of their battle yet keep it vague enough to where their followers were questioning what they really meant. As they did that, Equius was making imitation necklaces, using the one Sollux had saved from the ashes, made out of the shackles that once bounded their leader.

Gamzee was awaiting the arrival of the others. He had no clue what he was going to do for the whole inspiration speech thing. He wasn't the best with words, he kept mixing them up and his grammar wasn't exactly the best. He never really did get the proper education as a young troll, he had learned to read and write by himself and the rest was learnt with Karkat's help.

Gamzee sighed and glanced over at Dave who was still sitting down, knees pulled up to his chest and wrapped in Karkat's cloak. Gamzee was grateful that Dave had managed to find a way to get Gamzee out from the rage he was stewing in, he never got a chance to say how thankful he was though. The Bard of Rage thought for a moment before taking his old husktop out from his sylladex. It was so long since he had last used it, approximately six years. There was still some dried slime coating the letter keys on the keyboard and some blood on the monitor but Gamzee disregarded it and began typing.

terminallyCapricious[TC] **began trolling** carcinoGeneticist[CG]

TC: hey there my palest a loves

TC: WE AIN'T HAD OUR TALK ON FOR A REAL LONG MOTHERFUCKIN TIME.

TC: makes a brother sad knowing why we ain't breathed them wicked words at each other.

TC: I MISS YOU.

TC: where are you? and i'm so sorry. i ain't been able to get you outta my motherfucking thoughts that transpire in this broken pan a mine. starting to motherfuckin lose it, big time.

TC: KEEP ON HEARING YOUR RIGHTEOUS VOICE IN MY HEAD.

TC: i know none a this is your fault but i gotta motherfucking admit, a brother's a bit upset that his best bro would get himself killed.

TC: THEN THERE'S THE WEIRD THOUGHT THAT KEEPS POPPING UP.

TC: did ya mean for all a this bullshit to happen? the you dying an becoming a motherfucking martyr bullshit. wouldn't be surprised if ya did, ya were always pretty skilled in formulating plans that none a us knew about.

TC: IT JUST AIN'T RIGHT THOUGH. WE WERE SO GODDAMN CLOSE. WE COULDA BEEN FREE AN HAPPY AND ALL THAT NOISE.

TC: we still don't know how ya got captured, but my boon bucks are on the idea of that fish bitch getting her stolen mind control on an makin ya walk right outta here.

TC: I'M SO MOTHERFUCKING SORRY.

TC: i just...i need my moirail back. i need ya to come home and stop all this pain we all feeling. it feels like you've just...

TC: WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?

TC: i know ya ain't been meaning to do that but...i just feel so damn lonely. you were the only motherfucker that actually knew i wasn't all that dangerous. i was my best with you around.

TC: I KNOW I AIN'T EXACTLY A MODEL TROLL, NEITHER WERE YOU. WE BOTH DID SHIT WE AIN'T PROUD OF. ME WITH THE KILLING AND YOU WITH ALL YOUR DEAL.

TC: heh, remember when you would come to my fridge? you'd come have yourself a feelings jam with the motherfucker inside that kitchen appliance. ya always thought ya were bothering me, but ya weren't. you'd come talk about how it was all your fucking fault that our lusii died and that ya brought an unholy curse upon us.

TC: IN ALL HONESTY, I AIN'T MUCH MINDING THAT GOATDAD DIED. HE WAS MOTHERFUCKING HORRIBLE. AIN'T EVER DID HIS JOB IN PROTECTING ME.

TC: sometimes i wonder what i woulda become without ya there to remind me who i was.

TC: AND SOMETIMES I WONDER WHAT YOU WOULDA BECAME IF I WASN'T THERE TO REMIND YOU.

TC: all the rage you all up an inherited from your blood wasn't you, yet for sweeps on end ya thought it was.

TC: BUT IT WASN'T.

TC: ya know, i'm sitting here, waiting for these motherfuckers to hurry back with your followers.

TC: I TOOK THE LEADERSHIP PLACE SINCE YA ALL UP AND WENT TO LIVE ON WITH THE WICKED MESSIAHS.

TC: it is a hell of alot harder than it seems, ya just made it look so damn easy cause you were so miraculously great at this gig.

TC: I SHOULD WRAP THIS UP. I GOTTA SAY MY THANK YOU'S TO YOUR REDDEST A LOVES. HE'S THE ONE THAT FOUND THE THING TO EASE MY RAGE OVER YOUR UNHOLY DEPARTURE.

TC: i just wanted to talk to ya one last time. for closure ya feel? i needed to let ya know that i ain't gone batshit in-fucking-sane since ya died. whenever i feel myself starting to slip back into that unholy hellhole i just think a you and what you'd tell me to make it go away.

TC: ANYWAY, I JUST WANTED TO SAY, THANKS. THANKS FOR BEING THIS MOTHERFUCKER'S PALEST LOVE SINCE HE COULD REMEMBER. YA REALLY MEAN ALOT TO ME, KARBRO.

TC: pale for you, best friend. :o)

TC: ♢ 

terminallyCapricious[TC] **ceased trolling** carcinoGeneticist[CG]

terminallyCapricious[TC] **began trolling** turntechGodhead[TG]

TC: i never got a chance to thank a motherfucker what he all up an did for me.

TC: YA KNOW, GETTING THE SPIDER BITCH TO ALL UP AN LET MY FUCKED UP PAN GO AND CHILLING MY WICKED RAGE.

TC: thank you, brother.

TG: yeah well im not exactly a clown therapist but i figured you mightve wanted to see your best bro in his final moments and whatnot.

TG: glad i could ease whatever clown fury you were holding.

TC: KARBRO WOULDA BEEN GRATEFUL.

TC: usually he's the only motherfucker able to ease the righteous rage boiling up inside a me. all cause a that damn puppet.

TG: puppets man, theyre fucking creepy as shit.

TG: and technically he did help you chill the fuck out. you saw him on the weird holo-screen and you calmed down. the only thing i did was tell vriska to stop doing that weird mind thing.

TC: YA STILL HAD THE IDEA. AND FOR THAT, I PRAY THAT THE MIRACULOUS MESSIAHS PAY YOU BACK.

TG: unless your messiahs can bring back my boyfriend, i dont think i really want their payment.

TC: ya were really motherfucking flushed for my palest a loves weren't ya?

TG: yep. it sounds cheesy as balls but i have to say he was the love of my life.

TC: HEH, SOUNDS LIKE THE MOTHERFUCKER'S MOVIES.

TC: i'm all up an sorry for what happened to him. we shoulda gotten out hurry on. coulda been there in time and we coulda saved my invertebrother.

TG: its fine.

TG: idk why but i kind of have this weird suspicion that karkat had planned all this shit from the start.

TG: like he KNEW he was going to die but he just didnt tell us? probably bc he knew wed probably all freak the fuck out and ruin whatever plan he had.

TC: IT'S FUNNY. I THOUGHT THE SAME THING. WOULDN'T REALLY BE A SURPRISE IF HE DID, HE DID IT BEFORE.

TG: yeah

TC: listen brother, i know we ain't exactly pals and all that but we should at least try. i know we ain't always seen eye to motherfucking eye but we could try.

TC: IT'S SOMETHING MY PALEBRO ALWAYS WANTED. BUT WE WERE WAY TOO CAUGHT UP IN OUR OWN DOINGS TO EVEN ATTEMPT.

TG: you know

TG: that idea isnt fully terrible. might as well give it a shot.

TC: :o)

TG: uh

TG: yeah

TG: you should get going, rose is probably going to throw a bitch fit if you dont do your new leaderly thing to the currently arriving company.

TC: heh, right. i ain't wanting her to her upset on.

TC: IN ALL MOTHERFUCKING HONESTY, THIS BITCH SCARES ME :o(

TG: says the clown that's what? seven? eight feet tall?

TC: i may be the tallest motherfucker around but i’m still scared a her.

TG: dont give her that satisfaction, shell use it against you.

TC: HEH, AIGHT. TALK TO A MOTHEFUCKER LATER I GUESS.

terminallyCapricious[TC] **ceased trolling** turntechGodhead[TG]


	12. The Beginning of the Battle

Gamzee stood nervously in front of the large crowd of trolls and humans. This was a bigger turnout than expected but this was good. The gathering was so big it took John and Jade a couple trips on their ship to gather everyone here. The capricorn troll shifted his weight from foot to foot, waiting for the final group of followers to join the rest so he could begin his own speech.

Uh oh. Everyone was now looking at him and Gamzee _still_ hadn't thought of anything. A nervous sweat broke out, making his white face paint smudge. The purple blood wracked his brain, desperately trying to think of something to say. He was already starting to embarrass himself as a leader and he hadn't done jack shit.

'Fuck it...' Gamzee thought to himself, praying to any horrorterror that would listen that whatever was about to come out of his mouth was good enough for this crowd.

"Brothers an Sisters an everyone in between, ya may or may not know me. But I was our most wicked leader's palemate." Okay, so far so good Gamzee. Just keep this up. "As you all know, our Saviour all up an kicked the wicked can. He died a most righteous death, but he still died. He died without accomplishin' his dream: to free all us motherfuckers from the grubby hands a that fish bitch. Now, and motherfucking now, it's our job to help his dream come true. Now I know I ain't the best with words, in fact some a y'all probably think this is a motherfucking joke. But let me assure you none a the miraculous words that are spilling out of my mouth are lies. Only truths come from me."

"We spent the past couple sweeps planning and preaching for peace. We spent years spreading the good word of The Signless, The Sufferer. The troll that began this whole peace ideal. We spent so much of our time helping you all escape this blasphemous lifestyle and live in a more tranquil life. Now the Empress has, in fear, killed off the one person that was reteaching his ancestor's teachings. Well it looks like history is going to repeat itself." Gamzee boasted out, some confused murmurs already starting to emerge from the crowd. The rest of the group shuffled their feet behind the Capricorn troll, they were hoping his words would move the already uneasy crowd.

"Back then, in the time of my ancestor, The Grand Highblood, these preachings were thought of as treason. And here, it's treason as well. It's treason to want to live a wicked happy life. It's treason to want to stop culling small children because the ain't passed the trials and use their blood as paint. It's treason to want to be able to live a life without constantly worrying if you're gonna be taken by force into the Empress' army. We are all considered heretics for this."

"Back then, my palest a love's ancestor had visions. He had visions of trolls of all blood colors living in harmony. He had visions of a place where blood color was just blood color and not a definition of who we are. And he was killed because of it. He was killed by my ancestor because he dreamt of a place where everyone was happy. My Ancestor believed that this heretic was going against the words of the messiahs. But he wasn't. Back before my friends and I first landed on this broken planet, I believed I was both the messiahs. I believed I was the gods that my own religion was referring to. But now I know, _now I motherfucking know_ , who the _real_ messiahs are. They were _always_ both The Signless Sufferer, and Karkat Vantas."

"The Signless was killed and a rebellion was soon formed. The rebellion led to a war, and the war lasted for sweeps. The rebellion was vanquished and those leading it were killed. But his teachings never vanished. The ancient ancestors of ours planned. They planned on a new savior, Karkat, to arrive and finish what they started. Now that our Sufferer has been killed, so a new rebellion will rise." The crowd stood still. They didn't know how to respond. Gamzee was suggestion violence to bring peace, would this even work? "But this motherfucking time," Gamzee continued, his expression calm and serious. "This time will be different."

"How do you know it'll be different?!" Someone shouted from the middle of the crowd. Gamzee merely smiled softly and continued.

"This motherfucking time will be different because she ain't got no Helmsman. She ain't having no loyal subjugglator with her. She doesn't have ten damn people with magical fucking powers and damn fairy wings. She doesn't even have the full loyalty of her most dedicated citizens. This time, we won't cause the next biggest genocide of all time. This time we won't go into battle with the intent to kill every single troll or human in sight. No, that isn't the plan. We only want to kill one person, and if going into battle means coming out with freedom, is it really that much of a bad idea?" The purple blood finished his speech and stood there, waiting for a response.

"What if a big number of us get injured fatally or die?" Someone called out. Jane slowly floated beside the clown and spoke up.

"I am pretty skilled in healing people and restoring their life. As well as some of my friends here."

"Who will lead us once the Empress is gone?" Feferi quickly bounced to the other side of Gamzee and waved.

"Well, I will! I was already next in line for the throne back on Alternia. And no need to worry! I'm not like my bitchy ancestor. I won't become tyrant that she became." The crowd quieted for a moment before another raised their voice. It went on like that for a while, someone shouted out a question and a different member of the group would calmly answer their question. But finally the questions died down, and the final one was asked.

"How do we know that the Highblood won't turn on us at the last second? You saw him in the video. He went fucking bonkers! We don't know what he's capable of! He could be secretly planning to sabotage this entire plan!" Gamzee was taken aback, he didn't know how to answer such a question. Luckily Dave stepped up and answered instead.

"Listen, I get it. He was pretty fucking terrifying back then. But wouldn't you go apeshit if you saw you're best fucking bro quickly turning into a pile of nothing? You would. And no, we can't fully know if he's secretly in cahoots with the Empress and trying to bring out own downfall. But you know what? Karkat trusted him. He and my fucking boyfriend were so fucking close, it was kind of sickening at times. And I'd be lying if i wasn't a teensy bit jealous of their close relationship. Anyway, If Karkat trusted him, I trust him. And you should too. And if you're worried about him losing his shit again on the battlefield, just be glad he's on our side." Dave stepped back to his original position, his face reverting to its usual stoic expression. The group was in slight shock. This was the first time Dave has spoken in a month, and the words that came out of his mouth were in defense for Gamzee. Gamzee was in more shock than others, he didn't really expect that.

Dave's defensive words had apparently worked because the crowd finally quieted down. Gamzee gave off a few more comments and final encouraging words before the crowd began dispersing. Their battle plans now being put into motion.


	13. Preparing

Equius had the necklaces made, each one perfectly identical. Dave wore the original, the one that Karkat constantly wore. Dave hadn't said one word since his little speech in Gamzee's defense, which was about a week ago. Gamzee had attempted to spark up a conversation with him both on trollian and in person, but Dave didn't respond. John, Jade, and Rose all attempted to converse with their friend but, Like Gamzee, they were shot down with silence. Dave spent his time typing away on his outdated iPhone or his iShades. No one really knew what he did but they had all assumed that this was his way of still coping about the loss of his matesprit.

Even though they were all still worried about their human friend, the others had work to do. Gamzee had the massive group of their followers, willing to fight, get a few pointers from their most gifted fighters; Dirk, Jake, Terezi, Nepeta, Kanaya, Equius, and Jade. For those with any kind of telekinesis, Gamzee sent them off with Aradia, Vriska, Sollux, and Tavros. Everyone who wasn't helping train the trolls and humans were doing other activities to help out. Yes, everyone, even Dave, had some sort of helping hand in this.

They didn't expect this battle to last sweeps and sweeps, at most possibly a week. They had planned the battle to be more of a distraction for their real objective. And hopefully, if all went as planned, they would win with minimal injuries and, if they were lucky, next to no deaths. They weren't really planning on killing the empress, maybe just throwing her in jail or something. Gamzee hadn't thought this through so when questioned he would simply shrug and say _'where ever the messiah's guide us is what's meant to be.'_

The word about the battle ensuing against the Empress had played in their favour and had reached here rather slow. She wasn't exactly anchored to here somewhat large palace her, she had taken the liberty to explore this new galaxy and see what new plants needed to be conquered. Once word had reached her though, she almost immediately sent back her demand to prepare her troops and, sadly, turned her ship away from its course to a land with an abundance of gold. She was scared, she had to admit. The last time there was a war against her, she nearly lost. Hundreds of thousands of trolls had died and she barely managed to win. Now, there was many more trolls opposed to her and a few of them had the telekinetic abilities she had recently lost. She was terrified of losing. Terrified of not having some sort of power, it was her blood right after all.

A solid two weeks of planning and preparing and Gamzee received the word that the Condesce's army had just arrived from their last trip to an unknown plane that had most likely been taken under control by the Batterwitch herself. Looks like their previously scheduled mini battle would be moved up a month. It was going to be tough, her army had trained for so long and his only a couple weeks, but hopefully their plan would work fast enough and this whole silly little war thing would stop. Being the intelligent leader he was, Gamzee sent off little groups on the villages nearest to the The Empress' palace and battleship, he didn't any more fatalities.

Everyone was on edge as the time came closer to "fight" her army, trolls and humans were all grasping weapons and covered in quick, makeshift armour while others stood back to heal the injured. They weren't supposed to actually kill their enemy, just wound them enough so they would stop attacking. But if they had to, killing was most definitely an option.

Gamzee had one more leaderly decision to make, who would say to fight and who would go off to finish off the Condescension. He would stay, of course. Now it was just the matter of who else would stay and who would go off to stop the reign of the Empress. All those with telekinesis had to stay and fight, so that rid the choices of Vriska, Aradia, and Tavros, for team "Stop the Condesce." Sollux was immediately drafted off to take down the empress, his psionic abilities would be of great use to them. Roxy, Jade, and John were most definitely going. Terezi, after some debate, was on that same team. Finally, Dave was drafted as well. The Knight of Time was confused as to why _he_ of _all_ people was drafted to that team. He expected to be left here to tend to the wounded.

Dave hated fighting. He hated the sound of metal clanging against each other. He hated the smell and sight of blood. He hated all that violence. He may have been good with a sword and he may have been very skilled in combat but that doesn't mean he would willingly join the most important group of this whole thing. The teams were set and everyone was preparing for their assigned job. Dave still hadn't spoken and was quite set on not speaking but he had to question Gamzee about this surprising decision, so he messaged the capricorn instead.

turntechGodhead[TG] **began pestering** terminallyCapricious[TC]

TG: whyd you do it

TC: :o?

TG: dont you ':o?' me, you know what im talking about

TC: WELL MOTHERFUCKER IT'S REAL SIMPLE

TC: ya see, i tried to make this decision as rationally as possible. thought it out the way my dear deceased best friend would.

TC: I THOUGHT THROUGH ALL THE OPTIONS. IF YOU STAY HERE TO FIGHT, YA MIGHT DIE OR PASS OUT. IF YA STAY TO MEND TO THEM IN NEED, YA MIGHT PASS OUT. THEN AGAIN IF YA GO OFF AND SIMPLY CAPTURE THAT UNMIRACULOUS SON OF A BITCH, THERE WILL BE MINIMAL DAMAGE TO YOU.

TC: :o)

TG: huh

TG: thats actually pretty reasonable

TG: i mean, karkat probably wouldve thought it out a bit more

TG: then again he probably wouldnt want me to leave his side

TG: i just

TG: you know i wont really do much good for this shit right? youre basically setting up the team of heroes and im not the hero here

TG: youre basically putting the one kid that doesnt understand a single thing the teacher said in the group with all the geniuses.

TC: NAH

TC: you're a hero motherfucker, ya might not be seein the truths right now but trust me. they're there.

TG: yeah, whatever dude. i just needed to know that.

TG: i guess i should say thanks

TG: thanks for putting faith in the kid who didnt understand anything during the class

TC: NO PROBLEM BROTHER. AND IF IT MAKES YA FEEL ANY BETTER I NEVER WAS SCHOOLFED. LEARNT MOST A MY SHIT THROUGH KARBRO.

TG: pffft, wow. okay yeah that made me feel slightly better.

TG: i should get off, johns calling me.

TG: later i guess

turntechGodhead[TG] **ceased pestering** terminallyCapricious[TC]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

The wind pushed the newly shrunken ship forward as far as John could will it to. Roxy, Jade, Sollux, Terezi, and Dave were all aimlessly roaming the ship. They had all simultaneously managed to find themselves on the deck with John. Some light conversing later and the girls and Sollux all grew bored, soon moving off to some other part of the ship, leaving John and Dave alone. 

John had his arms outstretched, the blue haze around his arms as he controlled the wind to push the ship. He kept his eyes locked on the sky in front of him, glancing at his best friend every once in awhile. He was worried for Dave, Dave never really took things this hard. Not even the death of his own Bro. Dave didn't notice the Heir of Breath occasionally glance over at him, his mind was too cluttered with thoughts of Karkat and how he would help out in this mission. They stood there in silence, the wind howling being the only noise. Finally, the blue eyed boy broke the silence. 

"Dave...I know you probably don't want to talk about it but...what did it feel like? You know...losing Karkat and all...maybe talking about it will help you out..." John mumbled, prying his eyes off the sky in front of him to look at his friend who was still gazing out to the open area. Dave didn't answer for a minute, making John panic for a second before the Knight finally spoke up. 

"Have you ever died before? Not like...perma-dead kind of died but died and came back because of these weird god powers?" John nodded slowly, and Dave nodded back. "Yeah, it basically feels like that. You know...that weird tugging at your stomach and that weird hole-like feeling in your chest? You basically feel like the living dead? I feel like that, only this time I'm not relieved that I'm "immortal" and that I came back, I hate it. I hate the fact that I'm the one with these shitty god powers and immortality when it should've been him." Dave ran a hand through his hair and sighed out in slight frustration, a tsunami of emotions mixing together and washing over his usual cool kid facade. 

"It should've been him! He is the one who is changing the shitty ways of this new world. He was the one who led homicidal teenagers through a horrible game! He's the one who's the hero, not me. And yet here I am with these powers, here I am being titled a hero when in reality, I'm a damn coward. I stayed there, floating in mid-air like an asshole, as my fucking boyfriend got _beaten, stabbed, and burned to death John._ I didn't do _anything_ to stop that! The worst part is, I could stop it all from happening. I could go back in time. I could stop it. I could just..." Dave paused, his time turntables popping out of his sylladex and floating at his sides. He rested his hands on the records, the needles already falling into place and ready for use. "I could just stop it all. One spin and it could all be fixed. I could go back and he would be alive and some lucky Dave would be with him and everything would be better." The Knight of Time sighed once more before returning his timetables to his sylladex. "You wanted to know what it felt like? To put it simply, when he died, a little part of me died as well." 

John stood there as Dave ranted, listening to every single word he said. John understood what Dave meant, though he never had the love of his life die in front of him. But John understood in a way. His friend was aching and John never wanted to feel that kind of pain, but he still understood and listened to his ranting. 

Dave had tears in his eyes, but they didn't stream down his cheeks. He had to admit, talking about this did make him feel better. It felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders and chest. He leaned against the railing of the ship and pushed his iShades to the top of his head, looking off the distance. John felt the awkward silence creeping up on them once more so he quickly came up with another topic. 

"Dave...uh...in the videos we watched that one time...I remember one being you and Karkat talking about having kids...what were their names again?" John asked, hoping the question would lighten the Strider's spirits. 

"Camber and Tate...they're supposed to be unisex names so it wouldn't really matter what our kids were and...yeah." John nodded and Dave continued his chatter. "We wanted to have two kids, troll and human and you know...be parents and shit. I wanted to be the kind of dad I never had, you know, the caring and there for you kind of dad. And Karkat wanted the kids to have the childhood he never got to have. One filled with a safe feeling and child games and not worrying about what would try to kill him next." 

Your kids would've had the best parents around! You two would've been great parents!" John stated happily, a small smile tugged at Dave's lips. 

"Yeah...I bet we would've been..." 


	14. The Final Battle

John kept the shrunken ship afloat a good distance away from the giant red battleship of the Condesce. Jade unshrunk Roxy who was the first one to venture off to the horrors of the battleship. The Rogue of Void quickly, and invisibly, flew over to the ship, doing as instructed earlier by Gamzee and destroying any and every camera in that general area. She finished quickly, destroying things didn't take much effort after all, and hastily returned to her shrunken friends. Jade unshrunk the rest of them, minus herself, John and the ship, then they all flew over to the battleship. 

Dave's heart was beating so fast he thought it would jump right out of his chest. What was he going to do? He couldn't fight, not anymore. He was just the dead weight of this team, he'd probably end up getting them all killed. He'd end up being the one to ruin all of this, all of their hard work. All of Karkat's hard work. After everything Karkat did, preaching hour after endless hour and being executed to have his work destroyed by his own matesprit made Dave wince. 

"Alright, this is what we're going to do." Dave accidentally flew into Jade, he didn't know Sollux had stopped their group to give instructions. "First of all, we're not gonna die." Sollux lisped out, Dave rolled his eyes behind his eyes. Obviously they wouldn't do that...though Dave couldn't help but feel...maybe he could intentionally throw himself in front of a sword or something... "Second of all this should hopefully be quick and simple. Roxy can do her invisibility shit and roam down halls ahead of us checking for any threats. Once we get every single little obstacle out of the way we can look for the fish bitch herself. When we get to her hopefully she'll be distracted enough to where I can just use my psionics to stop her in her tracks. Worse case scenario is that she's already expecting us we're fucking doomed."

The Knight of Time zoned out during the Gemini troll's short, instructional speech. His mind was still elsewhere. Dave was over thinking this all way too much. He kept picturing scenes in his head where he somehow manages to mess everything up and get them all killed. He imagined the Empress capturing the rest of his friends and killing them off one by one all because he messed up. He didn't notice when Sollux finished his instructions and the others floated away, leaving Dave floating all alone. A good five minutes later is when the Knight of Time realised that he was left behind and quickly flew off after his friends. 

It was already chaos in the battleship and they had barely begun their mission five minutes ago. Trolls and humans alike were on the floor. No blood was found so it was more likely that they were all knocked unconscious. The albino make floated there awkwardly for a moment, he didn't know where to go. He floated down the hall hoping to see more unconscious bodies to lead him to the rest of the group, like some fucked up version of the age old bread crumb trail, but no dice. He flew around some more, hoping that maybe there was some sort of "you are here" sign around this maze of a ship but sadly none was spotted. 

He was starting to get worried. What if someone walked by and spotted him? What if they already captured his teammates? The possibilities were endless and it was those possibilities that forced Dave to fly a bit faster. 

He found more unconscious bodies and assumed he was heading I the right direction. As he floated up several flights of stairs he envisioned their victory. He imagined the Condescension being banished or imprisoned. He imagined everyone cheering and celebrating over their newfound freedom. He imagined them building a nice little memorial statue for Karkat and placing it where all could see. Picturing this caused a little smile to tug at the corner of his lips. 

The shrill screech of a familiar Libra troll yanked Dave out of his happy thoughts of victory and threw him into the cold reality that his friends were in trouble. His smile faded as he slowly floated towards the sound of Terezi's terrified yelling. He thought of retrieving his sword to have some method of protection but something inside of him held him back from taking it out of his sylladex. More unconscious trolls and humans were scattered on the floor, weapons laid down besides them. No bloodshed so far. 

Another yell, Roxy's this time, made Dave cringe. Shit was going down and it was highly possible that Dave was meant to be their saviour. The yells of all his friends intermingled as he drew closer, the cackle of the Condence was sneaking its way into that mix. His heart was trying to beat out of his chest once more as he turned the corner as floated down a hallway. He was so close, he could see the shadows of his friends dancing on the wall. 

Dave didn't know exactly what happened. It was like something inside of him snapped. 

The Knight of Time hesitantly peeked around the doorframe and into the rather large room. It looked like some sort of control room. His eyes slid over darted to the left to see Sollux quickly and horribly connected to the ship. The Gemini troll had streaks of yellow cutting down his cheeks and his jaw was clenched in concentration. This was the Helmsman room. Dave looked to the right to see the Empress battling off Roxy and Terezi with the smaller drone that had aided her in the execution of Karkat Vantas. 

That was what triggered Dave. 

His sword popped out of his sylladex and fell into his open palm. He swiftly and quietly floated in, pressing up against the wall. Luckily none of the others noticed he was here, he just kept quiet as he crept alongside the wall. Anger bubbled deep inside of him. It was like a personal _"fuck you"_ to Dave seeing the Empress working alongside the drone that had aided in the murder of his now deceased boyfriend. 

He silently flew a closer to the Condescension, her focus was set on Roxy who kept appearing and reappearing in different places. This was his chance. 

It all happened so fast that no one saw it coming. Terezi never even smelt it coming. One second The Condescension was jabbing and poking the two girls who were fighting her, the next second her head is rolling away from her body which had collapsed to the floor. Fuchsia blood streamed out of her stumped neck. Terezi and Roxy stopped fighting to look up to see Dave, holding his sword the had a fresh coat of fuchsia blood on it. 

It was over, they were free.


	15. Epilogues and Reunions

"...and they lived happily ever after. The end." Dave closed the book and rubbed his eyes. This was the fourth time this week he had read _"The Little Sea Dweller."_ He didn't mean any offense to the book, it's just repeatedly reading it got boring after a while.

"Read it again Dad!" The little troll happily exclaimed as she snuggled into her blankets some more. With her nubby horns and messy hair, she looked like a clone of Karkat. And in a way she was.

It was a genuine miracle really. Dave thought he had lost all hope of ever having a family. All the dreams of having a little child to his and Karkat's name just vanished. But thankfully, Kanaya was prepared. She took a page out of her Ancestor's book and saved some of Karkat's genetic material, just in case. Of course there needed to be two more trolls involved in this mix, Karkat's kismesis and matesprit. But since Dave was a human and his material couldn't be used, Gamzee willingly donated his some of his. Sollux, seeing as he and Karkat had that odd vacillating relationship, donated a smidgen of his own as well. One egg later and Camber Vantas had hatched.

"Sorry Camber, you gotta get your little rump to sleep. Or else Auntie Kanaya's gonna saw me in half if she finds out I kept you up later than intended." Dave stood up and leaned down to kiss his daughter's forehead. "Night little dude, yell if you need anything."

"Wait! Dad!" The little troll scampered out of her covers and over to Dave. "I gotta tell you something super important!"

"Cam, You gotta sleep. I don't a rainbow drinker on my a--butt." Dave picked up Camber and once more tucked her in. "Now stay in here before I get Kan and Rose in here."

"No! Dad it's about papa!" Dave froze. He turned around and leaned against the wall. Of course the Knight of Time had told his own daughter why there was a memorial monument of a dude that sort of looked like her in front of the Empress' palace. Of course he told her why her cancer sign was proudly displayed on flags all over the empire. Of course he told her why she had only one parent whilst other young trolls or humans had two or some had Lusii instead. Of course he told her about Karkat. Dave motioned for Camber to continue and his young troll daughter stood up proudly. "I saw him last night. In the dream balls...bubbles. But it was only for a minute! He looked exactly like me! Except his eyes were white, and he was a boy of course." Camber stated this information happily and Dave offered her a small smile.

Dream bubbles were still a thing, more frequent than before. Trolls and humans would often run into millions of versions of the heroes of their new, peaceful world. And even the luckiest ran into Karkat and his ancestors. Dave had yet to be that lucky. Even so, he smiled and patted Camber on the head as she continued describing her deceased father to him. When she finished he tucked her in once more, turned her night light on, and left her to rest.

Dave hadn't seen Karkat, in person, in six years. Sure he had the videos he had stored on his iShades but he longed to be able to see his loved one once more, he longed to be able to hold him and hear Karkat whisper sweet nothing's in his ear. Sure he also had the opportunity to see copies of Karkat in the dream bubbles but he wanted to see the _real_ Karkat. Camber was the closest thing to Karkat that Dave had. It made his heart swell with joy knowing that their daughter got the gift of seeing her other parent with her own two eyes.

Dave thought of how happy Karkat would've been knowing that the little troll girl with the sweetest smile and biggest blood pusher on all the planet was his very own offspring. It was a thought heartwarming enough to make a smile tug at the corners of Dave's lips. He pushed the door to his room open and walked in. It was a fairly large room, covered in posters and photographs. His bed sported his childhood bedspread, a white blanket adorning hearts, spades, clubs, and diamonds.

The Knight of Time flopped down on his bed, picking up a thick book off his nightstand and opened up to the page he had previously bookmarked. The book he was reading? It was part of a series written by Rose Lalonde herself, with some help of her friends, titled _"The Truths Behind Twelve Homicidal Teenagers and Eight Gods."_ Rose had, with permission from her friends of course, written all about the group's journey throughout the game and their journey in bringing peace to this damaged land. It was filled with pesterlogs, dialogue, and detailed descriptions on the many planets, villains, and shenanigans that had occurred within the groups. Dave was written the latest book released just a few months ago, this one was all about their journey on the meteor. Yes this novel fully told each and every movie night, game night, midnight make out sessions between aliens and humans, quadrant confusion, and basic bullfuckery between the four, five technically, trolls and two humans. Rose had purposely left out Karkat's own experiences with his lessons with Kankri and the slow realisation that he would be the upcoming world's savior. That was specifically for the next book which was currently being written.

Dave hummed as he reached a part of the book where Dave and Karkat began exploring which quadrant they fell in. He could already feel the second hand embarrassment that his past teenage self would give him in these next couple of chapters. And if that wasn't enough he would absolutely dread the awkward filming sessions he'd have for the movie version of Rose's novel's he was creating. Yes, Dave was following his adult selves footsteps and attempting to become a huge a big blockbuster film bigshot. It would be difficult but he would be able to one day show his daughter the films he's creating and give her the books so she could see for herself exactly what her family members went through for years.

A dull blue light turned on and the Strider glanced to his nightstand to see that his iShades were the ones giving off the light. Someone had sent him a message.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Camber happily ran along the side of the dream bubble, waiting to see a ripple in any corner so she could run through it and land in another bubble. The ghosts inhabiting this bubble payed next to no attention to her. They all knew her but they also knew that they weren't the ones she was looking for. The second the young troll girl had heard that the alpha version of her father might've been inhabiting this mysterious bubbles she spent all her time here looking for him. The ghost copies of her enormous family made attempts to help her find her father but so far no such luck. Then, due to some strike of luck, she found him.

She was ecstatic, he looked exactly the way he did in all the videos and pictures Dave had showed her. Sadly, the troll girl had but a moment before she woke up. She was excited to fall asleep and look for her father, or ancestor as her troll family members had called their deceased parents. Now she was asleep and waiting for her chance to scamper off to the nearest ripple in the bubble and jump through. A good fifteen minutes passed and she was finally able to run into another bubble.

Camber hopped through the bubble bumping into another troll and causing her to fall to the ground. She hopped back up and looked up at the other troll she had accidentally bumped into, ready to quickly mumble an apology before looking for Karkat, but her eyes widened and her mouth stretched into a smile. Karkat stood there, peering down at his daughter, a confused expression on his face. Camber looked over this ghost for a moment, making sure she had the right Karkat and she did. This Karkat wore the exact same thing he wore the day he was executed, his regular sweater and pants with his iron necklace proudly displayed on top of his sweater and a bit of a goatee beginning to form. This was the alpha Karkat. The mutant blooded troll girl instantly went to hug Karkat's leg causing Karkat's confusion to grow.

"Dad!" Camber squealed, her little grey eyes sparkling as she looked up at Karkat's face. The ghost of a cancer troll raised an eyebrow but patted her head.

"Excuse me? Dad?" Karkat asked, Camber prying herself off of him. She nodded and pointed to the candy red cancer symbol stitched onto her black shirt but Karkat still seemed confused. She thought for a moment before pulling out a photograph Dave had given her a long time ago. It wasn't much, just one of himself and Karkat together when they first began touring the world and spreading Karkat's preachings of peace. She showed this picture to Karkat, his eyes widening a bit.

This was going to be one long reunion.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dave sighed and pushed his iShades onto his face, it was probably Rose or Kanaya hounding him about keeping Camber up late again. The two of them had really gotten into the motherly sort of roles to help make sure his daughter grew up the best way possible. He clicked onto pesterchum and his newest messages appeared on the lense of his shades.

carcinoGeneticist[CG] **began pestering** turntechGodhead[TG]

 

CG: NOW I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE PROBABLY GOING TO BE THINKING GETTING A MESSAGE FROM ME.

CG: I'LL PROBABLY BE DEAD A FUCK OF A LONG TIME BY NOW AND YOU'LL PROBABLY BE FREAKING THE FUCK OUT WONDERING WHICH ONE OF THOSE SICK FUCKS DECIDED TO HACK A DEAD TROLL'S TROLLIAN ACCOUNT AND MESSAGE HIS MATESPRIT.

CG: LET'S GET ONE THING CLEAR, I'M TYPING THIS BEFORE I MET MY NOW INEVITABLE EXECUTION.

CG: THESE MESSAGES WILL BE SENT WHENEVER THE FUCK I SET THEM BE SENT OUT. IT'LL PROBABLY BE A FUCK OF A LONG TIME FROM NOW, I'M NOT EXACTLY GOING TO SET THIS TO SEND TOMORROW.

CG: ANYWAY I SHOULD GET ON WITH MY MESSAGE BEFORE HER IMPERIOUS BITCHITUDE RETURNS AND IT'S MY LITERAL HEAD.

CG: DAVE STRIDER.

CG: WHEN I FIRST SAY YOU WAY BACK WHEN WE FINISHED OUR SESSION I SAW YOU AS NOTHING MORE THAN A PIECE OF HUMAN GARBAGE. I FIGURED YOU HUMANS WERE USELESS AND A WASTE OF MY TIME. WHEN I FIRST SPOKE TO YOU, IT DIDN'T REALLY SWAY MY OPINION.

CG: WHEN I FIRST SAW YOU, YOU HAD JUST GODTIERED AND WAS ON YOUR WAY TO HOP ON THE "LET'S DATE TEREZI" TRAIN. YOU HAD YOUR LUGGAGE AND TICKET AND EVERYTHING. THEN AFTER SOME TIME ON THE METEOR YOU QUICKLY HOPPED OFF THAT TRAIN AND MADE YOUR WAY TO BUY A TICKET FOR THE KARKAT TRAIN.

CG: JESUS FUCK I'M HORRIBLE AT THIS.

CG: WHAT I'M TRYING TO SAY IS THANKS FOR NOT JUST SEEING ME AS THE INCONSIDERATE ASSHOLE WHO RARELY HELPED YOU THROUGH YOUR OWN SESSION.

CG: JUST BECAUSE OF THAT LOOK AT HOW FAR YOU I GOT. WE'VE BEEN DATING WHAT, A GOOD SIX YEARS? ALL BECAUSE YOU SAW A LONELY MUTANT PUTTERING AROUND A FUCKING ROCK AND THOUGHT "HEY, MIGHT AS WELL BE FRIENDS WITH THIS JACKASS."

CG: WELL LOOK WHERE THAT GOT YOU, TWO SWEEPS WORTH OF A HAPPY RELATIONSHIP WITH WHAT ROXY KEEPS CALLING "TROLL JESUS".

CG: THANK YOU DAVE.

CG: THANK YOU FOR BEING THE BEST MATESPRIT ANYONE COULD ASK FOR. YOU'VE SUPPORTED ME IN THIS WHOLE MESS AND ALWAYS STAYED BY MY SIDE. YOU CAME TO ALL MY SERMONS AND RECORDED ME FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS. YOU'VE NEVER LOST HOPE AND WHEN I DID, YOU HAD ENOUGH FOR THE BOTH OF US.

CG: YOU HAD SHIT CAKE AFTER SHIT CAKE THROWN AT YOU EVER SINCE YOU WERE THROWN INTO LIFE AND NOW YOU'RE JUST

CG: YOU'VE GROWN FROM IT.

CG: YOU'RE A HERO.

CG: I KNOW IT'LL BE HARD WHEN I'M GONE. I KNOW YOU'LL BE SAD AND BLAME YOURSELF. I KNOW YOU'LL FEEL LIKE A COMPLETE SACK OF SHIT BECAUSE OF THIS AND I'M SORRY, BUT YOU AND I BOTH KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN. AND WE BOTH TOOK THE RISK.

CG: YES, I'LL DIE. BUT WHAT'S MY LIFE BEING LOST COMPARED TO SAVING AN ENTIRE PLANET. WE DID SOMETHING FUCKING AMAZING, WE CREATED A PLANET WHERE THAT FAMILY WE PLANNED ON FOR SO LONG WOULD BE A POSSIBILITY. A PLANET WHERE THERE'S NO MORE BLOOD DISCRIMINATION. A PLANET NOT RULED BY A BITCH.

CG: AND IN THE END, IF I HAD THE CHANCE I'D DO IT ALL AGAIN.

CG: I HAD TIME TO SPEND WITH YOU AND BECOME EVEN MORE FLUSHED FOR THE COOL KID HUMAN AND I HAD THE CHANCE TO MAKE MY AT FIRST MEANINGLESS EXISTENCE MEAN SOMETHING.

CG: DAVE I KNOW YOU'LL HATE MY DEATH, BUT IT'S A SMALL PART OF THE BIGGER PICTURE.

CG: I'LL SEE YOU IN YOUR DREAMS.

CG: THAT DOESN'T SOUND CREEPY AT ALL.

CG: I LOVE YOU DAVE STRIDER. I LOVE YOU A LOT AND I HOPE YOU KNOW THAT AND LIVE A LONG HAPPY LIFE.

CG: <3

carcinoGeneticist[CG] **ceased pestering** turntechGodhead[TG]

Dave was just sitting there, a smile plastered on his face and tears forming at the corners of his eyes. This was a big deal, a huge deal. Karkat had sent this to him befor he had died. Sure that made Dave a bit sad but it also made him happy that at least Karkat had finally been relieved of his previous worthlessness and self hate rut.

Dave pulled the electronic sunglasses off his face and wiped the tears that were starting to stream down his face away. His heart was soaring, this was what he's been wanting for so long. A chance to speak to Karkat once more, and he was going to take it. He slid his iShades back onto his face and sent a quick message,

TG: i love you too karkat. i love you a lot. 

TG: <3

Looks like Rose would have one more thing to add to her upcoming book.


End file.
